Time Apart
by Sesame Fiction
Summary: Naruto's fight with Sasuke creates a tear in time, allowing Naruto to age twice as fast as his old teamates. Now free of the Chakra tear, Naruto returns to a world that thought he was dead. [COMPLETE]
1. Chapter 1: Time Apart

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters._

_This story takes place starting with the final clash between Naruto and Sasuke at the waterfall. It then diverges greatly from the story, so here goes._

_------------------------ _

"Let's finish this now!" Sasuke said disdainfully, drawing upon his cursed seal chakra. He made the hand seals for Chidori and crouched low, ready to kill Naruto in a final exchange of Jutsu.

Naruto's fox eyes narrowed as he stared across the river at what he once called a friend. It was plain now that Sasuke wasn't going to stop and go back to Konoha with him peacefully. It was equally clear that anything other than Ransengan wasn't going to get the job done. Before Naruto was even done deciding on his most powerful move, the Kyuubi chakra molded the swirling ball of destruction for him. He had never felt such a powerful concentration of Chakra in one place before. Sasuke flapped his leathery wings twice and took off. Naruto launched himself in to what he hoped was the conclusion of this fight.

Time slowed to a crawl as Naruto neared his target. The Rasengan hummed silently in his hand, waiting to be delivered to his oncoming friend. Something was different about this Chidori. The color was off, and the noise was not the same. It was deeper, more sinister. As the two powers slammed into each other Naruto and Sasuke let out a battle cry.

"Rasengan!"

"Chidori!"

The two powerful chakras met with a silent explosion, blurring Naruto's vision. The two shinobi's chakras reacted against each other in a swirl of color. Naruto lost his breath as the hand that carried the remnants of the Chidori slammed into his chest. His own hand swung out and his claw sliced a jagged cut straight down Sasuke's forehead protector. _Sasuke will know who won this exchange,_ Naruto thought as he struggled to retain consciousness. The chakra around them had taken on a life of it's own and encased them in some kind of glowing orb.

A look of understanding passed between the two combatants. The swirling chakra had a slowing effect, and Naruto was surprised when Sasuke grabbed his hand. _Something must be weird with my senses,_ he thought as he noticed Sasuke was much younger than he should be. Naruto let a soft smile pass his lips as he realized this would be the last time he would see his one time friend. Then he faded away into blackness as the chakra finally destroyed itself.

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_This Chakra is unbelievable,_ Kakashi thought as he sped through the forest as fast as he could. _It isn't good either._

"This is bad!" he said to Pakkun as the horizon lit up in what Kakashi could only assume was the end to a climactic battle. He recognized the Kyuubi chakra on the air and could only hope silently that Naruto had been able to control the explosion of energy and not be consumed by the demon inside him. He also hoped Naruto had managed to command enough to the chakra to keep him from death. There was no doubt in his mind that Sasuke meant to kill Naruto. He knew his students well, but he had underestimated Sasuke's lust for power. _Naruto won't kill him. He will fight hard, but he doesn't have it in him._

When Kakashi reached what was obviously the sight of the battle he was disappointed by what he found. More specifically he was disappointed by what he didn't find. His students were both gone. Kakashi closed his eyes and concentrated on the area around him, trying to sense the immense chakra's that had been recently occupying this area. He could sense Sasuke's trail leaving the sight of the battle, but not Naruto. Raindrops punctuated his thoughts, _I should have never taught him Chidori. This is my fault._ Kakashi sullenly turned around to bring the sad news to Konoha. Naruto was probably dead, and Uchiha Sasuke was a missing nin, who had killed one of his own.

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Naruto opened his eyes to white pain. His whole body hurt, and he could barely remember the last thing that happened. _Our chakra's mixed strangely and..._

**"I haven't been in a place like this in a long time, brat!"** The Kyuubi boomed in his mind.

"Place like what, and don't call me a brat!" Naruto responded to the nine tailed fox that called his body it's home.

**"A chakra tear, and I will call you what I please. You would be dead if not for me!"** the Kyuubi responded deeply. There was wisdom and power in his voice. It was seductive in a way.

"Well you would be dead if not for me so don't act like you are doing me any favors." Naruto responded. He hated talking with the Kyuubi. Everything that went wrong in his life was this thing's fault. He could have been a normal shinobi with a family, but no, a stupid demon fox had to be sealed within him, ruining everything.

**"I WOULD BE FREE IF NOT FOR YOU!"** the Kyuubi responded violently. **"Watch yourself when I decide to speak to you brat, I am trying to help you."**

"Well, I don't want your help so go away." Naruto responded, sticking out his tongue at the ancient demon, who railed against the cage in indignation.

**"You couldn't even beat that pathetic excuse for a friend. How will you defend us against enemies of real power?"** the Kyuubi responded, after regaining his composure. This brat had a way of riling him up. He hadn't had to deal with a human he couldn't kill in ages.

"Defend us?" Naruto asked, but he already knew the answer. _When I die, it dies as well. It's comforting to have such a powerful ally I suppose._

**"Comforting indeed."** the demon said. Naruto jumped in surprise. **"Yes I can hear your thoughts. Never forget that I am a part of you."**

"Yeah yeah, ok." Naruto replied, getting impatient with this whole conversation. "Get on with your point. Where are we, and why are you even talking to me?"

**"Silence yourself and listen then, brat. We are in a chakra tear. My chakra combined with Sasuke's chakra, and ripped a tear into reality. We fell in, your friend did not."** The demon paused for a moment, expecting a response from the normally loud ninja. He didn't get it. Naruto seemed sullen. The reality of what had just passed between himself and his best friend, and eternal rival, was sinking in. _Sasuke wanted to kill me. Would have killed me without the fox here, _he thought.

Kyuubi chuckled to himself. This brat was learning some hard lessons. He had some more hard ones coming. **"Well, that won't be a problem again for some time now. Unfortunately, we are stuck in this tear until another one occurs. High level shinobi used to fight often, but there is too much peace now. It's likely that another tear won't occur for several years."** This did elicit a response.

"YEARS! You mean I am stuck here with YOU for YEARS!" Naruto exploded. He couldn't believe what terrible luck he was having today. Being alone with the Kyuubi was the last thing he wanted. Furthermore, being stuck alone would mean no more training from ero-sennin. Actually, they would probably all think Sasuke had killed him.

**"That is exactly what they think, and that is good for us."** The Kyuubi broke into his thoughts again.

"Good? All my friends think I'm dead! You _would_ think that was good wouldn't you?" Naruto was on the verge of a panic. He had been alone for so long, he didn't think he could take it again.

**"Silence your quivering, brat!"** the Kyuubi shouted at him. **"Our lives were in danger and I intend to fix it ... a bargain if you will."**

Naruto forced himself to calm. He endured loneliness before, and he could handle it again. "What kind of bargain?"

**"You remember the men who were after you to get to me. You will need to be strong to defeat them. They want to take me for their own purposes, and I serve no man. When we return they will try for me - for us. They will be surprised by what they find. I will train you in this tear."**

Naruto thought for a moment. Training from the Kyuubi would be useful. He had been around for a long time and probably knew a lot of forbidden techniques. He would want something in return though. "What do you want from me?"

**"What I want is freedom. I know that it isn't possible now, but when you are on your deathbed it will be. The seal will weaken and you will then have the knowledge to release it. You _will_ release me."** The Kyuubi said.

"No deal." Naruto responded immediately. "The whole reason you are inside me is because you attacked Konoha. Even if I die when I escape from this place, I would never do that."

The Kyuubi howled in rage at this. He had known that Naruto probably wouldn't go for it, but it was worth a try. **"Fine. I had a feeling you might say that. I had a second idea anyway. I know a way to transfer my essence to another vessel. Most of my chakra would stay with you, but I would have my own body. If you died, I would still die with you, but at least I can roam free again."**

Naruto thought about this for a moment. "This means you would be out of my head, right?"

**"Correct." **The demon knew this would sweeten the deal as far as Naruto was concerned.

"One thing remains. How can I possibly learn enough in two years to make this deal worth it?" Naruto asked. The Kyuubi was obviously surprised. This boy may be smarter than he thought.

**"I'm glad you asked. The most interesting thing about a Chakra tear is that time flows differently here. We may have 20 years here while only 3 pass in the outside world."** He didn't mention that 2 years here could pass for 10 there, but he didn't think it was important information. Those types of tears were rare. They would train until they were ready, and then take the next tear out of this place.

"OK." Naruto said, "Deal! When I get out of here there will be no question as to who will be Hokage!"

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Time passed for Naruto quickly. Each day brought training and techniques beyond his wildest expectations. He never got hungry, and the Kyuubi was a pretty good teacher. The things that the Kyuubi knew were forgotten to most shinobi. He grew, both in power and stature. He also developed a deep respect for the Kyuubi. They always avoided the subject of why the demon attacked Konoha, but in his spare time they talked of other things. Naruto outgrew his clothes, and soon wore his old shirt ripped up as a loincloth. His jacket, pants, and shoes were discarded, and as time passed, he grew a wild beard. By his counting he was about 20 years old when the tear opened, and the Kyuubi decided it was time to head to the outside world. Naruto prepared himself for the changes he would find, and he stepped into the light.

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_This isn't the waterfall, _was Naruto's first thought as he stepped back into the real world as a man.

**"I don't know why you thought it would be. The exit would be where the other tear was formed."** The Kyuubi said.

Upon thinking about it, Naruto decided that it made sense. His mind quickly put together that there would also be combatants here. He decided that his arrival might be confusing and not appreciated, as a stray kunai flew past where his head had been an instant before. He sent his chakra to his feet in a surge of power, and flipped up into a nearby tree. Spinning around quickly, he assessed the situation.

Naruto peered through the branches at the ninja standing below him. The man looked tired and certainly in no shape to fight. Beside him was what Naruto assumed must have been his opponent, or what was left of him. A gruesome cut trailed across his chest, and the edges of the wound were burnt. _Must have been some sort of electrical attack jutsu. Probably channeled through a weapon of some kind._ His thoughts were interrupted when he sensed another kunai sailing towards him. With split second reactions, he flew to a nearby tree as the one he was standing on exploded into flames.

"Who are you! Where did you come from!" the ninja panted. He was obviously in no shape to fight.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and, with practiced ease, pulled on the Kyuubi chakra. His eyes turned from bright blue to blood red, and the slits that had been his pupils narrowed in on the mans forehead protector. At this distance only a Hyuuga could probably make out the symbol, but the Kyuubi abilities enhanced his senses. It was a Hidden Village of Sand protector. When Naruto last heard, they were allied with the leaf.

"I am a ninja of the Leaf," Naruto shouted, gauging the man's reaction. He seemed to look relieved before he passed out from exhaustion. _Well it didn't look like he was afraid of me. Sand and Leaf must still be friends_. He jumped out of the tree to the man. Naruto didn't recognize him, but then there was no telling how much or little time had passed. Walking over to the other defeated ninja, a quick glance brought him the only information he needed. A Sound ninja, and dead. Moments later Naruto was wearing his pants, although unfortunately the ninja's shirt had been destroyed by the blade that the Sand ninja was carrying. _Oh well, it will probably be hot on the way there anyway._

**"Don't forget our bargain. Release me.**" The Kyuubi reminded. Naruto smirked. He had learned a lot about seals in the 8 or so years he had spent training with Kyuubi. Biting his thumb and performing some hand seals, he slammed his palm into the ground. "Summoning no Jutsu!" he shouted. A small fox appeared in the cloud of smoke. Summoning legendary creatures required a contract, but the techniques were originally created to make hunting easier. It hadn't been hard for Naruto and the Kyuubi to create a variant that would summon a fox. Kyuubi was expecting a bigger one.

**"You wouldn't dare."** the Kyuubi said menacingly.

Naruto smirked. _Behave in this one and I may find you another vessel._ Holding the fox down with his left hand, he smiled as he performed some one handed seals and slammed his right hand into the fox's underbelly. The fox howled in pain for a moment before its eyes changed to something with a little more intellect behind them. Naruto felt the tiniest bit of Chakra leave his system and transfer to the other body. He also felt the piece of the Kyuubi's mind leaving, but he found that he could still feel its trail leading to the new body. _Good, I can always tell where he is._

"I hate you, brat," the small fox said. Its voice was not threatening at all. Naruto gave a loud laugh.

"Serves you right!" Naruto managed to get out between his chuckles. He wiped tears from his eyes as he surveyed his new friend. There was so little chakra in the creature that most ninjas wouldn't even notice it was any different from a normal animal. That was going to definitely be useful. "Anyway, like I said, behave for a few years and we may come to another arrangement. Besides you are adorable." With that, Naruto picked up the unconscious Sand ninja and started walking in the direction which he thought led to the village of Sand.

"It's this way." the Kyuubi grumbled. The fox bounded off, and Naruto turned around to follow him. This was going to be an interesting year.

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As Naruto neared the Hidden Sand village he was alarmed to note that he was being trailed by two ninjas. It would seem that in the time Naruto had spent away, the war between Sand, Leaf, and Sound had escalated. These ninja obviously didn't like the idea of a half-clothed man with a wild beard carrying one of their own injured into their city. Naruto was wearing his Leaf head protector as an arm band, but even he had to admit he looked pretty unkempt to be a ninja, especially one out on assignment.

When he got to the gates of the city the two ninja finally showed themselves. Naruto eyes sparked in recognition. The girl was Temari, the female fan user that fought in the Chuunin exam so many years ago. Naruto almost couldn't believe he remembered her name. The other face surprised him more. Shikimaru for sure. He even had the lazy attitude on his face. Naruto decided that several years had passed here, but not nearly the eight years he had spent training with Kyuubi. Shikimaru obviously didn't recognize Naruto. Why would he? Naruto was presumed dead, and years older than he should be. His beard covered up the unique whisker marks on his cheeks.

"Hand me Nagishi Sensei." Temari said, referring to the body Naruto had been carrying over his shoulder. Naruto shrugged and complied, gingerly handing the limp form of a man into her waiting arms. She looked at Shikimaru, and when he nodded at her she leaped away into the city headed for the medical block.

"What's your name?" Shikimaru asked quietly, scratching his shoulder.

_Should I tell him my real name?_ Naruto thought to himself. Naruto almost missed Kyuubi then. He would have been interested to hear his council. Closing his eyes, Naruto searched the faint trail of chakra that led to the fox. _Already inside the town I see. _Naruto's thoughts were interrupted when Shikimaru restated his question.

"What is your name?" he said, lowering himself into a more cautious stance. "I don't recognize you, and I warn you, if you are a spy…."

Naruto decided to stop him there. "I am not a spy!" he shouted. "I am the great Uzumaki Naruto, missing ninja of Konoha, presumed dead, and now returned to take my place as the greatest ninja in the history of the leaf!"

_He barks like Naruto, but he is way too old,_ Shikimaru thought to himself. After a few moments of thought he nodded at the man who claimed to be Naruto. _This is way too troublesome for me,_ he thought. With a sigh he looked again at the man who stood before him. He wanted to believe. "Come with me then. The Kazekage will know what to do."

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Gaara of the Sand sensed the Kyuubi chakra that Naruto carried with him, long before Shikamaru and Naruto even entered the building. The last thing Gaara had heard was that Naruto had died during the mission to bring Sasuke back. He had been surprised at that information, since he had fought both Naruto and Sasuke, and he didn't believe that Naruto could lose to that Uchiha clan prodigy. _That upstart couldn't even defeat me, let alone Naruto._

"Welcome back Naruto," Gaara said when he sensed them entering the room. He was shocked when he turned around and saw the person who was the bearer of the chakra. A young man in his early twenties, rough beard and long blond hair. Wearing nothing but a pilfered pair of pants and his Leaf head protector as an arm band, the person in front of him didn't seem like he could be Naruto, but the chakra was unmistakable.

"This guy is the Kazekage?" Naruto exploded, gesturing at Gaara. Of course the last time Naruto had seen him he was on his back, depleted of chakra. Temari and Kankouro had carried him away to safety.

"Naruto, show some respect!" Shikamaru hissed in his ear. It still seemed strange to use that name to refer to the person standing next to him.

"No its alright." Gaara said. "He hasn't seen me in a while. You remember what I was like." Shikamaru did remember. His mind trailed back to the Gaara that they saw in the hospital, desperate to cause pain. Shikamaru and Naruto were the only two there that time. The Kazekage had made many changes in himself after his fight with Naruto, only Naruto didn't know it yet.

"I am going to go check on Temari," Shikamaru said, excusing himself from the meeting. Gaara nodded, and in moments he was alone with Naruto.

"What is Shikamaru doing here? He is a Leaf Chuunin." Naruto asked, as he had a seat in the chair that Gaara had just gestured to.

"He is an ambassador from the Leaf, and a Jounin. Although, I imagine that his request for the position had something to do with his involvement with my sister Temari," Gaara replied. Naruto shrugged. Although the match was a far cry from the two of them fighting in the Chuunin exam, like the last time he saw them, he wasn't interested in his old teammates' romantic tendencies right now. The conversation paused for a moment, and Naruto slumped down in his chair.

"How long?" was all he asked.

Gaara lifted his brow a little at that question. He knew something was wrong with Naruto's age, but not what. "You have been missing for 4 years. Presumed dead." Gaara said. _Where have you been?_ He asked silently to himself. He couldn't ask that question. Since Naruto was a Leaf Genin, he had to be questioned by the Leaf.

_Well it seems that time moved at half speed out here. Not so bad, _Naruto thought. _That would make all my friends around 16._

Gaara continued, "Konoha will be very interested to see you alive. You would be surprised how many people seemed to be distraught at your funeral."

"They had a funeral for me?" Naruto asked, taken aback. He knew they thought he was dead, but with no body he didn't think they would have gone that far.

"Well, Kakashi was very certain you were dead," Gaara said, picking up on Naruto's train of thought. "You have a very..." he paused for a moment groping for the word, "... distinct chakra. When Kakashi didn't sense it anywhere, then he made the only conclusion."

_Makes sense I suppose. The elders know what the Kyuubi chakra feels like. When it was gone from this world, they must have decided I was really dead and not just missing,_ Naruto thought. He felt a little better when he remembered the bit about people being upset he was gone. It was good to be recognized.

"I am having a room prepared for you. I will have fresh clothes sent to you, and you can shave and cut your hair if you wish. Tomorrow morning, at 8 o'clock, I want you to report here. We will talk then of your return to Konoha." Naruto nodded, he was looking forward to a bath. "I ask that you don't leave your room tonight if you can help it. The less people that know about your return right now the better."

"Sure," Naruto said, following the Sand ninjas out of the room.

_The Akatsuki are weaker now than they were when they came after me, but they are still dangerous. When they hear Naruto is back they will come for the demon inside him. _Gaara thought.He called for one of his helpers, "Get me Shikamaru."

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Shikamaru entered the hospital looking for Temari. He found her in the corner leaning up against the wall. "How is he?" He asked, in reference to her sensei Nagishi.

"Dead," she responded. "Whatever jutsu that Sound ninja used had a lasting effect. Assuming that it was the Sound ninja." The implication hung in the air for a moment.

"I don't think Naruto killed him," Shikamaru finally answered. "It doesn't make any sense. Why would he do that and then come waltzing in here? Where has he been that he hasn't had a chance to shave or cut his hair? What happened to all of his clothes? It looks like he has been living in the wilderness alone or something."

"You really think it is him then?" she asked.

"Gaara seems to think so," he responded. He put his hand on her shoulder for a moment. "I'm sorry about your sensei," was all he could manage. He was no good at this kind of thing. Then again Temari wasn't any good at taking the news of a fallen comrade. It had taken her a long time to get over Kankouro's death.

"Don't worry about it," she said with a sad smile. "This is a war after all." Shikamaru knew she was acting tough, but he decided not to push it right now. Just then, one of Gaara's aids entered the door. He walked over to the two shinobi.

"Kazekage wishes to see you," he said. Shikamaru let out a sigh.

_How do I manage to get into all these troublesome situations._ He looked at Temari. "I will come by your place tonight, okay?" he asked.

"Sure," she said, watching him walk off towards her brother's office. If she knew her brother at all, Naruto's appearance meant a mission for her.

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Naruto was just finishing up his shaving when he sensed the Kyuubi's presence outside the window. He walked over to the other side of the room, and opened it, letting in the desert breeze. Moments later, the Kyuubi leaped into the room grumbling. "What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, with a chuckle in his voice.

The Kyuubi shook his fur violently, sending clouds of sand flying into the air. "I wasn't built for this kind of environment," he grumbled, "and if you must know, I came to watch you turn your face into hamburger." The fox then made some noises that Naruto assumed passed for laughter.

"Shut up! This is my first time shaving," Naruto said sticking his tongue out at the small animal. The Kyuubi didn't see it, as he was busy turning around in circles in the corner of the room. After a moment of doing that, he settled himself down comfortably. Naruto's characteristic whisker marks were barely visible under the nicks and cuts he had inflicted upon himself. They would be completely healed in a few hours. "Why are you really here?" he asked, a hint of seriousness in his voice.

"I got bored hunting. I am sure you would be surprised to note that rodents aren't very good conversationalists," the Kyuubi responded.

"You were lonely!" Naruto accused, grabbing the scissors from the counter. He prepared to get to work on his hair. Naruto would have never thought that a bath, shave, and a haircut could feel so good. After 8 years of only cutting his hair with a kunai, he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

"I was not lonely!" the fox replied defensively. "Are you sure you want you do that, brat? I mean your shaving was so successful." Naruto ignored the jibe and got to work on his hair. He knew what is was like to be lonely. It wasn't like the Kyuubi could just go and talk to anyone. If people knew an ancient demon was trapped in the body of a baby fox, they would probably try to kill him in revenge. Naruto realized that even though the fox had it's own body, Naruto was still the only person it could talk to.

"Well if you are going to be hanging around me all the time, then I need to call you something other than "Demon Fox". We don't want people to know it's you in there." Naruto said, as he finished trimming his hair.

"Call me Kit then." the Kyuubi responded. "It's fitting, seeing as how you have trapped me in this tiny body." He let out a canine yawn while Naruto climbed into the bed. "What did the other demon vessel have to say?" he asked lazily.

"We return to Konoha tomorrow." Naruto replied. _To be honest I am a little nervous, _he thought to himself. He hoped Konoha still had a place for him.

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Thats it for Chapter 1. Please review and let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2: Ambush

Time Apart Chapter 2

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Naruto woke up early in the morning. He didn't require as much sleep as most people did, because the demon chakra kept him energized. Part of the reason he had been such a ball of trouble in his youth was due to all the excess energy he had to burn off. During his training with the Kyuubi, he had gotten in the habit of only sleeping as much as his body needed, and he spent the rest of his time training. After warming up with several hundred push ups and sit ups, he took a quick shower and got dressed.

The clothes Gaara had sent for him weren't his usual style, but he wasn't going to complain. A pair of loose fitting brown pants were met at the waist by a short sleeve black shirt. He attached his protector to its rightful place on his head, and was about to leave when he remembered Kit. He walked over to the corner of the room where the tiny fox was still sleeping and gave him a nudge with his foot.

"Watch it!" Kit said, as he rose from his slumber. The ball of fur began to lazily stretch itself into alertness. "Is it time to go?"

_Who knew a demon could be so cute?_ Naruto mused to himself. Aloud, he just said, "Yes." He considered teasing the fox about oversleeping for a moment, but decided it was better not to. He was going to need his help in the future, and it wasn't wise to push your resources away. "Let's go," Naruto said, stepping out the door with Kit at his heels.

The villagers in Konoha were not going to love the fact that he had a fox following him around. It was another not so subtle reminder that the demon who killed all their loved ones was sealed inside Naruto. Well, at least his spirit was in Naruto. If they figured out that the fox was where the demon's mind actually resided, then Kit would be in for an unpleasant reprisal for destroying the village. Halfway to the Kazekage's office, they ran into Shikamaru.

"Good morning," Shikamaru said. His eyes passed Naruto to the fox trotting behind him. "I didn't know you used pets."

"I didn't when I left," Naruto responded. "This one took a liking to me while I was away. He liked me so much he hasn't stopped following me around," Naruto finished with a wry grin. The fox growled in response.

"It doesn't _sound _like he likes you," Shikamaru responded. Pets were troublesome ninja tools. They required training, and they had minds of their own. Kunai were more reliable weapons. Naruto just shrugged in response, and smiled. "Where was he yesterday?" Shikamaru asked. He didn't like the idea of Naruto's pet roaming free over the village last night. They still weren't sure where he had been these last four years, or what his intentions were. Spying hadn't been ruled out yet.

"Roaming around the village I imagine. His name is Kit by the way," Naruto stated.

_At least he was honest,_ was all Shikamaru could think. They had reached the Kazekage's office door. Three quick knocks and the door was opened, presumably by the sand that Gaara controlled. Shikamaru led Naruto in.

Gaara shuffled some papers on his desk before looking up. If there was one thing he couldn't stand it was paperwork, but that was something that a Kage had to get accustomed to. It wasn't always jumping around to save the village from one threat or another.

He was about to say something to Naruto when he noticed Kit growling at him. _It's the Kyuubi!_ The demon within him shouted. Gaara clutched his head in agony. He was getting used to fighting these attacks off, but they still hurt. Every now and then Shukkaku would get excited about something and break through his defenses.

After the first fight Gaara had with Naruto, the demon had tried to convince him that all Naruto's strength had come from the Kyuubi, and that he needed to be destroyed. Gaara knew that it wasn't true. It took true spirit from within to be a demon vessel and turn out like Naruto had. Gaara was in a unique position to understand that. He pushed the crazy priest back down. _I know Naruto has the Kyuubi. You don't have to tell me again._ Shukkaku's mad ramblings were cut short by the force of Gaara's will.

"Are you ok?" Naruto asked, with a hint of concern in his voice. He knew what it felt like to have a demon in your head. Giving Kit a soft kick, he whispered, "Behave. You are drawing attention to yourself." Kit quieted down and leaped up to a nearby chair, obviously displeased. When Gaara didn't answer, Naruto asked again, "Is Shukkaku giving you trouble?"

Shikamaru looked confused. He knew about the demon inside Gaara from being around him so much. It wasn't a secret, but he couldn't figure out how Naruto knew. These two seemed to know a lot about each other. Shikamaru knew he was missing something.

"I have him under control," Gaara said. "Shikamaru, you can wait outside." The young ninja shrugged and excused himself. Whatever these two wanted to talk about was too troublesome for him to get involved in.

Once Shikamaru had left, Gaara inspected Kit more closely. He couldn't sense any of what he would associate with the demon chakra in the small animal, and so he came to the conclusion that it was still sealed in Naruto. Tsunade had given Gaara Naruto's file when he had requested it at the funeral. Having been beaten and, in a sense, reformed by the boy, Gaara wanted to know everything he could. A pet fox was a strange addition to Naruto's arsenal. The villagers that knew of Naruto's past would be extremely put off by it. "I know about your past," Gaara said aloud. The simple words conveyed a world of emotion for Naruto. Before him stood the one person who could ever truly know what he had gone through.

"Don't tell anyone." Naruto said softly. Gaara understood his desire for people not to know. Given the option, Gaara would have preferred that none of the villagers were allowed to speak of his affliction either.

"I haven't and I won't. I respect you greatly Naruto," Gaara said. "Your strength in dealing with our ... condition inspired me to become what I am today. I live to protect my village now." Naruto wasn't surprised when sand started to trickle out the gourd that was propped up nearby. He had a feeling he knew what was coming next. The sand wrapped itself around his wrists, binding them tightly to one another. Kit stood up in his chair alert now, but when Naruto shot him a warning glance, he sat back down.

"What is the meaning of this?" Naruto asked, but he already knew. _They don't trust me still. Things must be really bad._

"Your Hokage requested this by way of a messenger bird. She wishes for you to be bound until she can question you on the events surrounding Sasuke's defection to Orochimaru and it's relation to your prolonged disappearance," Gaara said sadly. "If you attempt to perform any jutsu, the sand will react and crush the bones in your hands, rendering them useless."

Naruto frowned. _What do I have to do to prove to these people I'm not a spy,_ he thought. "Fine," he said aloud. He nodded at Kit, who stood up and trotted to his side. "Let's get this over with then. I assume that I am going to be traveling under guard to Konoha?"

The doors opened once again and Shikamaru walked in with Temari. When they were near Naruto, Shikamaru said quietly into his ear, "I am really sorry about this. We have had our fill of betrayal, and we just want to make sure you are still on our side. Until we can determine that, I hope you will put up with us." Naruto nodded, then smiled.

"It's not that long of a journey!" he said, disarming the situation in typical, loud Naruto style. "Lets get going!" Turning around, with a nod of goodbye to Gaara, Naruto gleefully marched out of the building, with Kit close behind. Shaking off their surprise, Temari and Shikamaru ran to catch up.

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It wasn't long into the journey, when Naruto sensed a group of ninja's following them. _It wasn't very likely this was going to be an easy trip anyway. The Sound had to have seen that two ninjas were traveling alone with an apparent captive. That was far too juicy of a target to pass up._ It was several hours until Shikamaru and Temari spotted them.

"We are being followed," Shikamaru said quietly, jumping from tree to tree. He knew that the attack was probably going to happen soon. Naruto nodded, letting Shikamaru know that he was aware of the fact. "Since you can't really fight, stay between me and Temari, and we will protect you."

Naruto shook his head. "Temari is a long range fighter and you aren't exactly a taijutsu expert. That won't work and you both know it."

"We haven't got a choice. You can't use any seals!" Shikamaru said. Hokage must have not thought this one through. It didn't seem like her.

"I will be fine, I promise. These guys are probably mostly Chuunin anyway. I can take them, even without the use of my hands. Fight them how you need to, and don't worry about me." Naruto said. Shikamaru was about to protest again, when Temari interrupted him.

"Naruto is right. If he thinks he can handle it, let him. We need space to fight, and I don't babysit ninja's who can't take care of themselves." Temari gave one of her predatory smiles that showed her eagerness for the upcoming battle. She wanted revenge for her sensei.

She may be my girlfriend, but _man_ she is scary sometimes, Shikamaru thought. Gathering his Chakra to prepare for the fight, he flashed her some of the hand signals that the two had worked out between them. This wouldn't have been the first time they fought together. Without a word, Temari swung around in mid jump, snatching the fan from her back. 

"Cutting Wind Jutsu!" she said, aiming the powerful blast of wind, created by her fan, in the direction of the ninjas who were chasing them. The enemy ninjas were fast enough to dodge the blast themselves, but the trees in between them and Temari were cut to pieces. While the trunks were still in the air blocking the sun, Shikamaru put a kunai in his mouth and made some hand seals.

"Ninpou, Shadow Walking no Jutsu," he said sinking into the shadows and vanishing from sight. Naruto was impressed with the combo. The ambushers had been ambushed, but that didn't mean the battle was over. They were still outnumbered, and Temari leaped up into some nearby trees to dodge incoming shuriken, leaving Naruto alone with Kit to fend for himself.

Safely depositing himself behind a tree, Naruto analyzed the battle plan. _Temari used her fan to cut up the trees. The attack was aimed in the direction of the enemy, but the intent was to create moving shadows out of the flying debris for Shikamaru to use. He used the Shadow Walking technique to quickly transport himself into the shadows, which are harder to predict than stationary ones. That makes it difficult for an enemy to escape._ Naruto's thoughts were punctuated by the screams of the Sound ninjas as Shikamaru appeared behind one and lodged the kunai in his back. Before the others had time to react, he was gone again. _There is only one weakness to this attack,_ Naruto decided. The enemy leader apparently had the same idea. Shouting out some orders, the group moved in, back to back. After a few aborted attempts Shikamaru appeared again in the shadow of a tree near Naruto.

"Damn!" he cursed, panting from using a large amount of Chakra. Temari was busy keeping the enemy distracted with bursts of cutting air from her fan. "They caught on quick, and now the shadows are gone," Shikamaru said. He crouched low to the ground and started thinking about the situation. Naruto had seen him do it once before at the Chuunin exam.

"Any ideas?" Temari shouted from a few trees away. She had grown quite respectful of Shikamaru's intellect over the years. When he didn't reply, Temari knew that it wasn't a good sign. He needed more time to think, and that's what he was going to get.

Naruto watched as she leaped up into the air. Spreading her fan out behind her back, she began to spin. "Violent Tornado Jutsu!" she shouted as her spinning increased. Around her, a pillar of wind formed, which deflected any attempts at thrown weapons. Leaping out of the back of the tornado, she returned to her perch in the tree where she began. Making hand seals, she said, "Control." Closing her eyes and holding the last seal she made, the tornado began to move toward the enemy.

_Nice,_ Naruto thought. _That will keep them busy for awhile._ He glanced over at Kit who was nodding in approval.

"These humans have style, especially the female," Kit whispered. "I think they are going to need your help in a minute though."

"Why is that?" Naruto asked turning his head to follow Kit's gaze to the crouched figure of Shikamaru. The Sound ninja team leader was coming out of the tree that Shikamaru was sitting in front of, with his kunai at the ready. _This is going to be tough with no hands, _he thought to himself. Sending his chakra to his legs, he propelled himself forward at blurring speed. The Sound Jounin barely had time to look up, when Naruto's foot slammed into his face, sending him flying. Naruto thought that his enemy would stop when he hit the tree, but, apparently, Naruto had put a little to much force behind his kick. Breaking the tree in half the Sound leader finally hit the ground rolling. Shikamaru looked up in surprise.

"Thanks for the save," he said, dumbfounded at Naruto's powerful kick. _He moved so fast, that he reminded me of Rock Lee,_ Shikamaru thought to himself.

"No problem. You might want to check on Temari. I don't hear her tornado anymore," Naruto responded, his gaze never leaving the Sound Ninja who was slowly getting up. _ He_ _must have managed to stop the full force of the kick with some chakra. This guy is pretty good, _he thought.

Shikamaru looked up to find Temari desperately fending off the attacks from the remaining three Sound ninjas. "Can you handle this guy?" Shikamaru asked Naruto.

Naruto gave an animalistic grin. "With pleasure." Hearing the confidence in his voice, Shikamaru ran to help Temari.

"You are good," the Sound ninja said, wiping a trail of blood off of the corner of his mouth. "You surprised me that time, but it won't happen again."

Naruto laughed aloud. In the background he could hear Shikamaru doing the Shadow Bind technique. With Temari's help, that meant that the other ninjas would be taken care of soon. He could take his time with this one. It had been a long time since he had done anything other than spar with Kyuubi.

The Sound ninja glared at Naruto's disregard for his threat. Here was a man whose hands were bound, who couldn't use any Jutsu, and who was laughing at a Jounin level Sound ninja. Deciding to shut him up with violence, the man threw a shuriken at Naruto. Adjusting his head to the side by a few centimeters, Naruto nearly stood still as the weapon whirred by his head.

"I'm going to take a bath while you kill this joker," Kit said nonchalantly as he walked over to a nearby tree. Licking his paws, he began to clean himself. Naruto chuckled.

Although the Sound ninja didn't hear what the fox said, he got the idea that the blond- haired boy didn't think he needed his pet to defeat him. Enraged, the man ran forward making hand seals furiously. "Earth Spike Jutsu" he shouted. The ground beneath Naruto shook for an instant before it came alive, sharpening into tall deadly spires. Leaping into a back flip, Naruto avoided the attack easily, only to find himself placed in the trajectory of several kunai. Twisting in the air, he snatched the handle of one with his mouth. Avoiding the other weapons, he landed neatly, in time to sidestep an incoming kick.

"You had your turn. Now it's mine!" Naruto growled, with the Kunai clenched in his teeth. He went into a series of kicks, pushing the enemy back. Drawing on more and more of the powerful Kyuubi chakra, his body began to change. To Naruto, the battle seemed to slow down. It was always like this when he was channeling this much raw power. His body took on a faint red glow as the chakra wrapped itself around him, adding more and more strength and speed behind each kick. Naruto saw his opening. Dropping to a low crouch he tripped the Sound Jounin, with blinding agility. As the man was falling to the ground, Naruto flipped into the air. Using his chakra, Naruto spit the kunai out of his mouth with frightening velocity. The man was dead by the time he landed. Satisfied with his work, Naruto released the Kyuubi chakra and returned to normal. He turned around to see Shikamaru and Temari looking on with shock.

"We came to help, but then decided you had it under control," Shikamaru said. _How much has he grown in power since he was gone. That was incredible. Even with Gaara's binding, he probably could have killed us both any time he wanted._ Shikamaru decided then that Naruto was to be trusted. He turned to Temari. "Release him," he said.

She wasted no time. Walking over to Naruto she made some hand seals and bit her thumb. "Release!" The sand melted away, leaving him free to move his hands around.

"WHAT?" he shouted. "You could have released me before that mess and you didn't?"

"We needed to make sure. Besides, we didn't have time then." Shikamaru answered. "Don't cry about it now, you didn't even need your hands." Kit was making the noises that passed for laughter.

Naruto whirled around to see Kit rubbing against Temari's legs with a contented smile. "What are you laughing at!" Temari gave him a pat on the head.

"Cute fox," she said, then turning around, she continued walking towards Konoha.

---------------------------

Kabuto watched with interest as Naruto finished off the Sound Jounin. Ninjas like that one were expendable, but good for figuring out the strength of an enemy. As the blond- haired boy dealt the death blow, Kabuto pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

_So he is back,_ Kabuto thought. _My spies in Sand were correct. I probably shouldn't have been so hard on them. After Sasuke told us what went on at the Valley of the End, we were sure he was dead. _He turned around to head back to the village of Sound._ Not that it matters anymore. It's not like we could punish him for lying. Orochimaru will want to know what's going on._

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It was late at night when Naruto and the others reached the gates of Konoha. The Anbu guards at the gate nodded when they saw Shikamaru and Temari. They had already been briefed on what to expect. When they saw that Naruto was not bound, as they had been told, one of them got angry.

"Why hasn't the prisoner been bound as requested?" the Anbu asked. By the sound of his voice, he was an older man. He probably remembered the Kyuubi attack and knew about Naruto.

"Because he isn't a prisoner," Shikamaru said testily. "He is a returning Konoha ninja, and, judging from what I have seen, he may be your boss soon."

"We will see about that," the Anbu said. "No way that _demon_ is going to be in our ranks!" he said, more violently than he probably meant to. That was when he noticed the fox at Naruto's feet. It growled at him menacingly.

Even though he was a full grown man, and a high ranking Anbu, the fox seemed to frighten him. He took a step back and made some gestures to ward off evil spirits. Naruto laughed. "Let me tell you this," Naruto said. "When I left here, I was a kid. Now I am a man. Try any of your crap and you may regret it. Do me a favor and spread the word." Scaring half the village wasn't the first thing Naruto wanted to do when he got back to town, but sometimes you didn't have a choice. He wanted to let this guy know where he stood about his treatment now.

Shikamaru was a little confused. He had heard people call Naruto a demon before, but he always thought it had something to do with all the pranks he pulled as a kid. This Anbu's reaction to Kit was strange. Shikamaru filed this knowledge away for further investigation.

Before the situation could escalate, the other Anbu removed his mask, revealing none other than Hyuuga Neiji. "Welcome back Naruto," he said. The Hyuuga seemed to think for a moment before going into a slight bow. Everyone present was shocked, including Naruto. For the Hyuuga prodigy to show such respect was unheard of. After a moment, Naruto returned the gesture.

"It is good to be back," he said.

"It's good to see you as well Shikamaru. How long have you been away now?" Neiji asked.

"Two years. I've been in touch with the Hokage," Shikamaru answered.

"No you haven't. I will take you to the Hokage now," Neiji said. He activated his Byakugan facing away from his Anbu partner. Naruto raised his eyebrows.

"Those aren't our orders. We report to the council now!" the other Anbu protested. Turning around quickly, Neiji dropped the man in a few precisely placed blows. Shikamaru, Temari, and Naruto all assumed fighting stances immediately.

"No, it's ok!" Neiji said. "Let me explain. Things in Konoha aren't what they seem..."

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Thats it for chapter two, once again please review. I have a live journal now so if you want to drop by I can respond to you better there. User name is SesameFiction.


	3. Chapter 3: Operation Distraction

Time Apart Chapter 3

"_Those aren't our orders. We report to the council now!" the other Anbu protested. Turning around quickly, Neiji dropped the man in a few precisely placed blows. Shikamaru, Temari, and Naruto all assumed fighting stances immediately._

"_No, it's ok!" Neiji said. "Let me explain. Things in Konoha aren't what they seem..."_

Neiji walked over to the fallen Anbu, checking his pulse. Satisfied that he hadn't killed the other ninja, he turned back to Naruto and the others. "The Council has taken control of the city. After they heard that Naruto had survived and was returning, there was a riot. A few of the older ninjas and most all of the council made a play for power. Somehow, they managed to drug Tsunade, and they are holding her inside the city."

"How is that possible?" Naruto asked. "What about Kakashi and the others? Surely they wouldn't let something like that happen!" He was obviously furious.

"Unfortunately, all of the powerful ninjas who might have sided with the Hokage are away on missions. I asked the council if I could be one of the Anbu to greet you all at the gate. Since they assumed I had hard feelings after our fight in the Chuunin exam they agreed." Neiji said.

"Why would Naruto being alive cause something like this to happen? I know he was a prankster when he was a kid, but isn't this a little extreme?" Shikamaru asked. For the first time Neiji himself looked a little confused.

"Well they claim that Naruto is the one who corrupted Sasuke into defecting. They also claim he is a spy and dangerous to the village. They have promised to release the Hokage after the 'crisis' has passed. Nobody that really knew Naruto believed their lies of course, but those of us that did are outnumbered by far," he shook his head sadly. "Naruto it may be better if you stay away from the village until we can free the Hokage."

Naruto response was loud and immediate, "Like hell!"

Neiji laughed silently, "I had a feeling you might say that, so we had a plan." He reached back into his pouch and pulled out a small ball with a fuse on it. Lighting the fuse, Neiji hurled it into the air.

"What was that?" Naruto asked. He was slightly annoyed when he noticed that Kit and Temari were too busy playfully fighting over a stick to be paying attention. The ball Neiji had thrown silently exploded in a flash of light, getting their attention.

"The signal." Neiji gestured for them to follow, and the group sped into the city silently.

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Hinata scanned the sky of the distant west gate with her Byakagun eyes. Waiting for the signal was gut wrenching. She had never really done anything like this before. _Neiji should have chosen someone else for this, I can't do it!_ She thought desperately. _I'm just going to mess it up and then we will really be in for it._

Her stomach churned when she saw the faint flash in the distance. _It's time. Naruto-kun needs you. You can do this Hinata,_ she steeled herself. She reached up to her face and covered her mouth and hair with her mask. She was wearing a form fitting black body suit made of a mostly noiseless cloth, and nothing showed now but her eyes. She didn't really think it would do any good since only so many people in the village had the Byakagun eyes, but Neiji insisted that if she was seen they couldn't prove her identity unless they caught her. The only choice the council would have then would be to take on the entire Hyuuga clan, which they wouldn't be foolhardy enough to try.

This whole thing was crazy. _Why does most of the village hate Naruto-kun so much_. She still couldn't believe the council planned on executing him for treason without a trial. This couldn't have come at a worse time. The only people that were still in Konoha that had the ability to do anything to help the Hokage and Naruto were Rock Lee, Neiji, and herself. _How could we all have been so stupid,_ she chided herself.

As she walked across the roof of the building she had been standing on top of, the butterflies only increased. She attached a rope to her torso and the other end to the air vent on the other side of the building. Standing at the ledge, she took a final deep breath, and jumped. She had carefully calculated the length of the rope beforehand, and it snagged her at the right moment. Going taut, the rope pulled her back in towards the building. Expelling some chakra from her feet she landed near silently against the side of it, directly above a window. Twisting upside down she peered in.

Just as they thought, the council hadn't trusted any of the high level shinobi to guard the Hokage. To many of them would probably support her if they knew what was going on. Instead, some of the council's flunkies sat nearby playing cards. Since the Hokage being kept here was a secret that only the council and the Anbu who were playing as their lapdogs knew about, the two men didn't seem to think anyone was going to come for them. Ignorance is bliss.

Hinata took a final deep breath and began her attack. Kunai at the ready she pushed away from the wall hard, and as she swung back towards the window, cut the rope. The two men were slow to react as she crashed through the window, dropping into a roll. She used the momentum she had to carry her body up into the first attack. In such a cramped hallway the other two men were going to be forced to use their taijutsu against hers. Too bad for them that she was a taijutsu specialist.

She blocked the first clumsy counter strike with ease, returning with three soft hits of her own. The man obviously hadn't been in a real fight in years. Thats what they get for posturing around the village and claiming they had fought during the Kyuubi attack, but not keeping current on their skills.

Whirling her feet around, she sidestepped the man, leaving him standing there stunned. The second opponent was a little better than the first, who at this point was clutching his chest and writhing around on the floor. Blocking several blows that had been aimed for her vital points, she prepared her counterattack. Even if she was the supposed weakest of the Hyuuga clan, she was still a far sight better at taijutsu than most other ninja. When she saw the man outstretch his arm too far in a punch aimed for her face she sidestepped quickly and tapped the chakra points in his arm. Seconds later in hung uselessly from his side.

"How did you find out?" he asked, panting from first real physical exercise he had experienced in some time. Hinata briefly considered answering him, but then decided not to risk him remembering her voice when he woke up. If their counter-coup failed then she didn't want to be identified by this guy. Konoha had a war to win, and if they were going to do it, they needed their Hokage back. She pushed herself into the attack once more, and with only one functioning arm, the man didn't last long.

After her opponents were both down, she searched them for the key to the room. Finding what she sought on the second man, she steeled herself for what she would find inside and opened the door. And old woman who vaguely resembled the Tsunade that Hinata was used to seeing was sitting in the corner, crying softly to herself. She was obviously delirious.

_I hope this works,_ she thought, getting out a small flask. She had insisted to Neiji that while she had _thought_ this would act as an antidote to the drug they were using on Tsunade, she wasn't _sure._ However, he had told her he trusted her judgment. After all these years other people still had more confidence in her than she had in herself.

After a few moments Tsunade seemed to come around. "What ... what is going on? Where am I?"

Hinata let a happy squeak pass her lips. _It worked, I didn't think it was going to but it did!_

"Hinata, look at me," the Hokage growled, snapping her attention back to her mission. "What is going on here?" she spoke each word emphatically.

"S-sorry," she said. She had a lot to tell and not much time to tell it.

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Rock Lee sat across the street from the building where the council members were waiting for Naruto. Silently he reached down and undid the straps that kept the weights he usually walked around in attached to his body. His eyes never left the building, or the two Anbu guards standing in front of it. Inside, he knew there would be several of the older members of the village waiting with anticipation for Naruto to finally show up.

_What have you been doing these last four years?_ He thought to himself as he laid the weights off to the side. He was in an unusual mood. Normally he happily spent his days away practicing and gaining strength. He only ever took these weights off to protect his way of the ninja. Today, he took them off to protect his village from itself.

Neiji had formulated a fairly simple plan. The only one other than Shikamaru to make Jounin, he was going to be meeting Naruto at the gates. Neiji was going to meet Naruto at the gates, and take him to the monument where they were all going to meet. Then they would disable whatever resistance they encountered while making their way back to the council meeting.

Hinata was going to be rescuing the Hokage. It was likely that Tsunade wasn't heavily guarded since her location was supposed to be a secret. Lee had managed to get the most dangerous mission and the part that only he could accomplish. He was going to get the attention of as many of the councils guards as he could and string them along in a fight away from the council building.

That part of the plan was fine, it was the next part that bothered him. He was supposed to meet up with everyone roughly five minutes after the signal. Then the Hokage, accompanied by the rest of his friends, was supposed to save him from the large numbers of Anbu and jounin level ninja that would probably be chasing him. He may be able to take one or two, but more than that and he wouldn't last long. If he had to open the gates then he really would be on a timer. Too bad it was illegal for anyone in Konoha to sell him any alcohol. With drunken boxing he could probably kick all their asses, and level the building while he was at it.

The only part of the plan he had refused was the part where Neiji wanted him to wear some ridiculous black outfit. If he was going to do this he wanted to do it in his green jumpsuit. He just wouldn't feel right in anything else. Besides, he had promised success with his nice guy pose, so failing wasn't really an option. If they wanted to ID him that was fine, he was in the springtime of his youth. They couldn't keep him down for long, and when Gai-sensei returned they would have hell to pay.

He stood up and started to stretch. Scanning the skyline for the signal he started to do one handed push ups to keep himself occupied. Finally one of the two Anbu guards got interested in what was going on across the street and came over.

"I am going to have to ask you to leave here kid, an important prisoner is due to arrive any moment," the man said, voice slightly muffled behind his mask. Lee faked innocence.

"I can't do that! I promised Gai-sensei that I would do 1000 one handed push ups, and if I couldn't do that then I would do 5000 squats!" He was going to go on with a long list of promises that, coincidentally, he _had _made to Gai before he left on his mission but he was interrupted by the distant flash. _Go time,_ he thought. As far as the Anbu was concerned one instant Lee was doing push ups in front of him, and the next instant the teenager's foot was slamming into his face. None of the movements in between had registered with the man.

In a flash Lee had crossed the street. The other Anbu guard was just lifting his guard to block the punch that Lee was going to throw at him when abruptly the 'Green Beast of Konoha' shifted into another attack. Within the span of three seconds Lee had managed to put two Anbu down on the floor. Their surprise at his speed wasn't going to last long though. They were Anbu after all, and even though he was unparalleled at taijutsu and speed, he was still only a chuunin. The Kages had not yet passed him due to his one glaring weakness. Lee still couldn't even manage the lowest level jutsu.

While the two Anbu were still picking themselves up off the ground, Lee continued the rest of his mission with a groan. Two Anbu was going to be enough trouble as it was, but he was going to heap even more trouble on his head. He kicked open the door, revealing the shocked faces of the council and a crowd of older ninjas. He zipped in the room, and with intense satisfaction, kicked the chairman of the council right in the face. _He is going to feel that in the morning,_ Lee thought. When he flew back out the door, at least half of the ninjas in the room ran to follow him. _That should make things easier when we come back here._

His thoughts were interrupted by the jutsu the Anbu was completing at the door. Lee never heard the man shout out the name of the technique, but then Anbu rarely did. They specialized in silent killing. He figured out what it was an instant later when the ground beneath him became slick. He cursed silently to himself as he slipped, and his momentum carried his body tumbling all the way across the street again to where he had started this whole thing. When he regained his senses and looked up, there were around twelve or so ninjas waiting to beet him to a pulp. He had almost decided he was in deep trouble when he had an idea.

Reaching to his side, Lee picked up one of the weights he had removed from his legs. _None of these guys saw the preliminary rounds of the first Chuunin exam, and I never had to take them off the next time I tested. They are going to love this._ Leaping to his feet, Lee used all the muscles he had built up over the years to swing the weights like a weapon. One man was unfortunate enough to be hit square in the chest by it, and flew all the way down the street before crashing into a nearby building. _That will be some broken ribs, if he survived. _Lee had a moment of worry, he didn't want to kill any of Konoha's own, just rough them up a bit. The next time he swung the weights, the mob of hostile ninjas were more studious in their attempts to avoid it.

Starting to get tired, Lee threw the weights into the crowd hitting another man, and decided it was time to head towards the rendezvous. _I hope Hinata's antidote works. It's too bad Sakura isn't here._

_------------------------------------- _

Hinata and the Hokage were the first team to reach the rendezvous. Tsunade still seemed to be shaking off the effects of the drugs she had been under, but Hinata thought that her attitude more than compensated for that handicap. She was really, _really_ pissed off. If Hinata's ears were in possession of the same acuity as her eyes, she would have heard the rather brusque details of the revenge Tsunade was planning on exacting from the council members who had betrayed her.

When Hinata's Byakagun sensed a group of eleven people rushing this way from one direction, while another group of four was racing just behind them, she timidly interrupted the Hokage's rambling.

"Um, Tsunade-sama?" she started. "I think, um, well, the other groups are almost here." Tsunade stopped in mid rant. Scanning the distance her face narrowed itself into a look of determination. Moments later Rock Lee came screaming out of the trees and hid behind the monument.

"Thank god you are here!" he said, "Even though I am fighting with the fists of justice on my side, they are really out to get me!" Seconds later his pursuers came out of the trees behind him, intent on causing injury. They stopped cold in their tracks when they saw who was standing next to him.

"Take a break Lee," Tsunade said to him, stepping forward towards the crowd. They took a step back.

"Tsunade-sama!" one of them tried. "I thought you were... um .. well," the man stumbled on his words when he realized he was about to admit that he knew the Hokage had been drugged.

"Captured? Drugged? Tricked by the council so you could murder a child because you were afraid of him?" she invited the man to finish his sentence. The group took another step back.

"Come on!" one of the men shouted. "It's ten to one! That demon took our families! You all just going to let him waltz back in here?" The rest of the group was having trouble with that logic.

"Are you kidding? That's the Hokage!" another man shouted. He started to turn to run but Neiji's team had just arrived behind the group of people.

"Glad to see you are well Hokage-sama," was all Neiji said in greeting. The group of Konoha usurpers stood back to back now, Hokage on one side and the Hyuuga clan prodigy on the other, backed up by Shikamaru and the fan girl from Sand. The man that stepped out from behind Neiji only made their situation seem that much worse.

Uzumaki Naruto nonchalantly walked towards the group with his hands in his pocket, trailed by Kit. They could have sworn the little fox had smiled at them. "You know that speaking of that is punishable by death right?" They would have ran then if they could. Unfortunately while they were all distracted by Naruto's threatening words Shikamaru had snared them in his Shadow Bind.

Tsunade didn't waste any time. "Tie them up and knock them out. We can collect them when this whole thing is over. Then they will receive their punishment." While the rest of the group complied, and Shikamaru held the Shadow Bind, Tsunade walked up to Naruto.

She examined him critically for a moment, letting herself feel out his chakra. Satisfied that it was really him, she allowed herself to shed a tear of relief. "I thought you were dead." She reached out and gave the man that stood before her a tight hug. Naruto's breath was squeezed out of him at the inhuman strength the woman brought to bear.

"You should know better than anyone, I'm a little harder to get rid of than that." Naruto answered, or tried to anyway. It came out as more of a choked gasp for air. More quietly he added, "I missed you guys. You don't know how long its been for me." Tsunade looked at him then a little closer and noticed the stubble on his chin. Only a day old, and already prickly. This wasn't the face of a 16 year old.

Tsunade loosened her hold on Naruto. "Who is your new friend?" she asked, referring to the fox that was busy scratching his ears at Naruto's feet. When she asked it stopped and looked directly at her.

"I will explain later." Naruto said cryptically. Tsunade had a feeling she wasn't going to like this one. Glancing around Naruto noted that everyone was finishing up with binding their adversaries. The group of friends came to join them. Naruto recognized Rock Lee, but the girl that had accompanied the Hokage had her face covered.

Being older now, Naruto noted some features on the girl that he probably wouldn't have cared about when he left on his mission eight, well four depending on how you looked at it, years ago. _Its probably Sakura-chan! She had been working with Tsunade some before I left, I bet she is really strong now._ Just about the time he had decided that, yes, it had to be Sakura, the girl took her mask off.

Naruto was dumbfounded. Hinata's face had lost baby fat that persisted in hanging on to her cheeks when she was younger. Even without irises, she was downright hot!

"Na-Naruto-Kun!" the girl started.

_Still strange though,_ Naruto thought. It was going to be interesting to see how everyone had grown and yet stayed the same while he had been away.

"Welcome back!" Hinata finished. She paused for a minute and fought down a blush. "Um, well, why are you so old?"

_Perceptive though, _he admitted. Then again, what else could he expect from the Byakagun. "I will explain later. We still have a mission to finish and a coup to put down, right?"

Tsunade nodded in affirmation. "Yes we do."

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Authors Note: There you go, chapter three. I really appreciate all the positive comments I have gotten on this story, they keep me going. Review, review, review!

Please, tell me what you think. This chapter was harder to write than my first two, but I feel like I know where I want to lead this whole thing now. Hope you all enjoyed.


	4. Chapter 4: Sakura

Time Apart: Chapter 4

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To say that the council was stunned when Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage, walked in the chamber doors would have been a complete understatement. As far as they knew, she had been drugged and kept locked away, and those who supported her, concerning Naruto's treatment, were away on one mission or another. Their surprise was kicked up a notch when Hyuuga Neiji walked in right behind her. After he got trashed in the Chuunin exam so many years ago, they had thought he would be one of the most reliable people to bring Naruto in. Their version of reality was shattered when what was undoubtedly Uzumaki Naruto walked through the door, tall and lean, followed by a pet fox.

No one said a word as Tsunade walked across the room, her eyes never leaving the head of the council. The man was still nursing the wound Rock Lee had inflicted about ten minutes ago. A genin, a chuunin, three jounins, and the Hokage stood confidently in the midst of a collection of rebel jounin and ex-jounin ninjas. "Hit your head?" was all Tsunade asked to the head council member.

"Um, yes Hokage-sama," the man said, careful to keep his eyes from meeting Lee's. Before he knew what was happening, the Hokage used her formidable strength to punch him in the face. Sweat started to form on the faces of most of the people in the room.

"Hokage, please, you must see reason! This man is a danger!" one of the men in the audience said, pointing to Naruto.

"Yes he is," the Hokage agreed. They seemed to relax for a moment before she went on, "A danger to our enemies! A danger to this ongoing war with Sound! A danger to _you_ perhaps if you don't start treating him with respect!" They all shrank back. "If you are worried about danger, then you should be looking at ME!" she finished shouting. Naruto stifled a chuckle. She wasn't done, "When did it become acceptable practice to drug the Hokage when you think you are smarter than her? If you thought that you could take control of this village long enough to do your dirty work and then just give it back, then you should think again!" she snarled. If they could have disappeared, they would have. If they could have ran, they would have. Neiji and Naruto were blocking the door.

"Hokage," one of the council members started. Tsunade shut him up with a glare.

"Hinata, go to my office and bring me the files on Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke," the Hokage commanded. Hinata nodded her head in affirmation and then ran off to get what Tsunade had requested. "Naruto, come here," she beckoned.

Naruto walked towards the front of the room, and, as he passed, the crowd backed away. When he got to the front, Tsunade gestured for him to sit. With a questioning look on his face, he complied. Tsunade returned her steely gaze to the crowd of rebels in front of her and continued her address.

"I am going to settle this once and for all, and this is how we are going to do it. Naruto is on trial for high treason, charged with forcing the last of the Uchiha clan to defect to Orochimaru. Everyone in this room is also on trial for high treason, the charges being an attempted coup against the Hokage. There will be only one guilty party." Everyone in the room squirmed in their chairs now, except for Naruto. They all knew who the judge was going to be.

"That's not fair Hokage-sama," one of the men shouted. "We already know how you will decide."

"Oh no," Tsunade said, "It will be fair. His peers will be the jury. Rock Lee, Neiji, Shikamaru, Temari, and Hyuuga Hinata will sit in judgment. They know nothing of his condition, so you can spin it however you want it. They will see the truth." Naruto started to sweat now. He had no desire for his friends to learn about the fox. However, if he was going to live in this village in peace, these people had to be convinced.

"Deal," one man sneered confidently. Just in time, Hinata walked in the door with the files that Tsunade had requested. After she handed them over, Rock Lee explained to her what was going on.

"Let's begin. I will now read Naruto's file." Tsunade said. She took a deep breath. The look of shock on the five youth's faces was understandable when she read the part about the most powerful demon in the world being sealed into a baby Naruto. Temari looked down at Kit a little more critically while he rubbed against her legs for the umpteenth time. When the animal winked at her she kicked it away. Kit narrowed his eyes at her before trotting over to Hinata.

_Why are all my teachers perverts?_ Naruto wondered idly as he watched the exchange. He was more worried about how his friends were taking the news.

After the knowledge had a minute to set it, Rock Lee stood up and shouted, surprising everyone, "THAT'S AMAZING! You mean Naruto was saving our village even when he was a baby?" He gave Naruto a big thumbs up and smiled, teeth shining, "Good job!"

_Well at least I know he is taking it well,_ Naruto thought to himself, grinning sheepishly and scratching the back of his head. He surveyed the other's faces. Temari was nodding, eyeing Naruto with a new hint of respect. Gaara had the same condition, and look how he had turned out.

The pieces were all falling into place now for Shikamaru. The shouts of the villagers, the reason the Anbu had been afraid of Naruto's fox, and the reaction of the older population to the news of Naurto's return all made sense to him. He turned his hands down in his customary position of thought. His opinion would matter most to the villagers, since his IQ was a well known fact among them.

Neiji's face was impassive, as usual. His cousin's was not though, and Naruto could see the tears falling from her eyes. _Is she afraid of me now, or is she crying for some other reason?_ he wondered. The smile he had been carrying from Rock Lee's reaction faded for a moment. Her gaze turned from him, to the villagers in the room, and then back to him.

"Now that they have been informed, you may present your case against him." Tsunade smiled to herself. This is where they are going to make themselves look like paranoid asses. One man stood up immediately. With intense hatred and fury in his voice, he literally spat his accusation out.

"That man killed my wife!" his finger pointed viciously at Naruto. Shikamaru was the first to reply.

"When was your wife killed?" he asked quietly.

_Lucky that he is here,_ Tsunade thought to herself. _I couldn't think of a better person to ask the right questions._

"When the Kyuubi attacked of course!" the man spat back. "Didn't you hear what she just said?"

"I heard her point out that Naruto was a baby when the Kyuubi attacked, and that when the Kyuubi was defeated it was imprisoned in Naruto's body. I never heard her say that Naruto crawled out of his crib and strangled your wife, a capable ninja, with his bare hands." Shikamaru responded.

Temari smiled and thought to herself, _he may be chauvinistic and lazy, but he's really got a brain. That council member must feel like a complete idiot._ He did, evidenced by the fact that he sat back down stammering. All of the other people who had been planning on laying some other outrageous claim at Naruto's feet also seemed to back down.

Another man stood up, determined to offer proof that Naruto was a danger. "He is out of control. The demon inside of him has to make him unstable! He could snap at any moment." Most of the people in the crowd nodded. At least they should all be able to agree with that.

Neiji spoke up at this one. "Has he killed anyone in this room?" Obviously the answer was no, "If he was really so unstable he wouldn't have put up with this, and probably could have killed you at any time. Besides, he would have killed me when I taunted him in our fight during the chuunin exam. He must have been using the demon's chakra then, since I closed off his tenketsu points."

Naruto nodded yes, that he had be using the chakra then, and had been in complete control of his mind. One by one, the accusations of the villagers were put down by his peers, as they defended him time after time. It was starting to become obvious where this was headed. The only one who hadn't spoken up so far was Hinata.

Finally, she gathered her courage and stood up, tears in her eyes. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves. All I can do is remember all the hate you poured on Naruto as a kid and how he still managed to smile and try hard. His greatest dream in life is to become the Hokage so he can protect this place, and this is how you repay him! He has more courage than anyone else in this room!" She had more to say, but broke into tears in earnest now.

Tsunade stood up to her full height, "Enough of this." She turned and addressed the council. "I believe we have heard ample proof defending Naruto's character, and his love for this village. In front of me, I have the file on Uchiha Sasuke. During the chuunin exam that he participated in, Orochimaru marked him with a cursed seal. It's a miracle he even survived it. _That_ is the reason he defected, his lust for power and revenge. These are traits he has carried all of his life, and you know it. Naruto tried to save that boy, not destroy him." She sighed, watching the expressions on everyones faces as they processed what had happened tonight. When they realized what they had done, one stood up, with his head hung in shame.

"We apologize, Hokage-sama."

"Sadly, sorry isn't going to cut it." Tsunade said. "All council members who were involved in the attempted coup are dismissed from their posts. Re-elections for the council will occur next week. You," she gestured at the commander of Anbu, "are also dismissed. Hyuuga Neiji will start tomorrow in your place. Since I can't afford to jail you in the middle of this war, all Jounin and retired Jounin will report to my office tomorrow at 1200 hours for team assignment. You are all getting pressed into double duty. If you don't feel capable of duty, you have my permission to pack up your stuff, and get the hell out of my village. Now get out of my sight, and go tell your friends at the monument what happened here."

The collection of ninjas shamefully filed out of the room, some truly sorry for what they had done, and some contemplating how to flee the village in the morning. None of them would be bothering Naruto again.

"You five," Tsunade said after they villagers had left, "are sworn to secrecy about the Kyuubi. Your other friends don't need to know." They nodded. "See me tomorrow morning at 0900 for new assignments," she paused for a moment, and then continued in a softer voice, "and thanks for the help. I'm glad you all saw enough of the truth to support Naruto."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama, for giving us the opportunity to help him." Neiji said, bowing low. The group waved goodbye to Naruto and left the room, chatting idly amongst themselves.

"As for you," Tsunade said, "where the hell have you been the last four years!" Naruto jumped in surprise, and opened his mouth to start explaining, before Tsunade stopped him. "No, not now, it's late. Go get some rest, your apartment is still empty. No one wanted it after you left. See me tomorrow morning at 0800. You can give me a full report on where you've been, and tell me where you found this fox." She walked out yawning and Naruto was left alone.

"That was a pain in the ass," Kit said after she had left.

"You can say that again. Nerve wracking too." Naruto left the building, with Kit hot on his heels, and followed the familiar path home.

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The door to his apartment was locked of course. He couldn't remember what he had done with the key, but he assumed he threw it away sometime in the last eight years. Luckily for him, he had left a window unlocked. Using his chakra to climb the wall, he walked up the three stories and slid into the window. Kit was waiting for him to unlock the door.

Only one of the lights worked, the others blew when he flicked the switch. After being idle for four years, the sudden surge of energy was apparently to much for them to handle. He walked across the small room and opened the door for Kit.

"It took you long enough," the fox grumbled. He walked into the room and looked around. "I can't believe you live here? It was nicer in your stomach."

"It does seem a bit small now, huh." Naruto replied. He walked around idly picking up random bits of trash he had left sitting in the floor. He hadn't been very clean when he was a kid. After about 20 minutes of cleaning, the place looked good enough, and he had uncovered his futon. That was about all he cared about right now.

"What do you have to eat in this place, I'm starving!" Kit said. Naruto looked at him in surprise.

"Getting lazy in our freedom?" Naruto asked. "There is a whole forest full of woodland creatures out there, you can't really expect me to spend money feeding you, can you?"

Kit growled, "Open it then," gesturing at the door. "You are going to have to install some kind of door for me so I can get in and out."

"Sure, sure, whatever" Naruto replied, not really paying attention. The mention of food had sparked his interest. As he opened the door to let Kit out, he realized he hadn't eaten since that morning. Good thing ramen never went bad. Or at least he thought it didn't.

After eating three bowls he decided it was time for some sleep. He was going to have to give his report tomorrow, and Tsunade seemed intent on assigning him a mission already. Konoha must be really short on help if that was the case. He took off his shirt and emptied his pockets, then laid down on the futon to rest. His eyes closed, and he fell asleep.

Unfortunately, it wasn't going to last. He was up and alert when he heard a soft tap on the door. _I forgot Kit was still outside. I probably do need to install a door._ He stood up and walked over to it, pulling the door open quickly while saying, "Whats the big idea, you could have slept outside for one stinking night!" His eyes widened when he saw who was really at the door. Yes, Kit was standing there with a grumpy look on his face, but above him was Haruno Sakura. Naruto was stunned.

"So it's true, your back." she said dully. Kit scampered in the room and settled in the corner. "I just reported back from my mission, and I heard some people talking. Is it really you?"

"Yeah," he replied with a grin. _It's good to see you,_ he thought. As if the confirmation and smile was enough to prove without a shadow of a doubt that it really was him, Sakura rushed forward into a hug, weeping.

"I thought I had lost you. I thought you were dead." She punctuated each sentence with the smack of a balled up fist hitting his bare chest. "I thought I had lost you both!" Naruto grimaced at the thought of telling her about Sasuke. Last time they had seen each other, he was promising to bring Sasuke back with Rock Lee's "nice guy" pose. If he hadn't made that promise, he probably would have killed Sasuke instead of using the last of his strength to scratch his forehead protector.

"About that," Naruto started, intent on explaining what had happened at the Valley of the End. She interrupted him.

"No, it's my fault! I shouldn't have asked you to go after him, I knew you weren't strong enough to fight those Sound ninjas," her words brought up a brief flare of anger. She had no idea how strong he was. She never looked to see. Sakura stepped back for a moment and scanned him, eyes falling to the vicious scar over his right breast, where Sasuke's fist had impaled him. "Who did this?" she asked, regaining her composure at last.

"Well," he said. He hadn't wanted to start the conversation like this. He was going to work up into telling her that Sasuke was a traitorous bastard, intent on killing his friends so he could unlock some twisted ninja ability. He never got the chance.

"Was Sasuke hurt as well? We haven't heard anything since it happened!" It took all of Naruto's effort not to explode. He had been missing, presumed dead for four years, and still, all she cared about was Sasuke. He was going to say it gently, because he knew it would hurt her. He changed his mind for the same reason.

"I hope Sasuke is dead, honestly." The color drained from her face, and she took a step back. She searched his expression, trying to make sure it was some kind of sick joke. It wasn't.

"Why would you say that?" She asked, horrified.

"You want to know who did this to me? He did! He used the Chidori to stab me." She was crying again. "He wasn't kidnapped, Sakura, and he wasn't trying to slow me down. He said he was going to kill me, so he could unlock some new power for his Sharingan. He's gone, and I can't believe you are still pining for him after this long!"

Sakura was having a hard time controlling herself now. "Lies," she spat. "It was the cursed seal. Neiji's report said he was being carried in a barrel. It had to be against his will." This wasn't the way Naruto had wanted things to go.

"Sakura, the truth is, Sasuke was weak. He wanted power at any cost, and he took it, betraying us all. I didn't kill him then because of the promise I made to you, but I will kill him next time. He never like either one of us, and I don't know why you can't see that." Naruto knew that he had crossed the line. She wasn't going to want to speak to him for a while. _Thats ok. She needs some time to think, and it isn't like she ever liked me or anything. Just because I had a crush on her as a kid doesn't mean I should coddle her now._

Sakura's anguish turned into anger at his last statement. "How can you claim Sasuke was weak? He was the strongest ninja I knew! You were dead last, and you couldn't even come _back_ from your mission. He was marked by Orochimaru! You wouldn't know anything about dealing with an evil seal and staying sane!"

Naruto laughed out loud, which he immediately knew was a mistake. If she didn't hate him already she sure hated him now. Might as well seal the deal. "I know more than you think Sakura-chan. Go home, and grow up." He closed the door. _Bet she never thought she would hear me tell her that._ He wanted to laugh about it, but he couldn't

"Forget about her, kid," Kit said from across the room. "I always thought she was a bitch anyway."

Naruto didn't respond. He was numb from the exchange. He tried to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. _What time is it anyway,_ he thought. He had gone to sleep at around midnight before the interruption. Checking the clock on the wall, he saw that it was 4:30. _I need to work off some stress._ He put on the black t-shirt that was sitting next to his bed and headed out.

"I will be at the practice field," he absentmindedly called back at Kit. _It's early in the morning. No one should be there._ He walked through the empty streets, knowing the route by instinct. From his training with the Kyuubi, Naruto had learned one method that stretched him to his limits, and really got his mind off of things. He walked onto the practice field and was surprised to see Rock Lee.

"You are up early," Naruto said as Lee punched a log over and over.

"Yeah," Lee responded. "A ninja who practices hard will always prevail! One of Gai-sensei's rules to being an effective shinobi."

"Good rule," Naruto said. Rock Lee stopped for a moment and looked at him. Lee noticed the distress in his eyes.

"Are you okay Naruto?" Lee asked.

"Yeah," he responded. Lee could tell he was lying but he wasn't going to push it. "I'm going to warm up for today. If I accidentally get in your way, I'm sorry."

Lee nodded. _What kind of warm up would have him in my way? _

Naruto walked out to the middle of the field, put his hands together in a familiar seal and said, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Beside him, three identical copies of himself appeared. They walked around him and took up their positions. Rock Lee couldn't believe what happened next. With lightning speed the three shadow clones attacked the real Naruto, who was defending desperately against them. Each clone had all the apparently formidable Taijutsu skills that Naruto had, the only difference being if any of them took a hit, they would explode into a puff of smoke.

Naruto's mind was instantly cleared of any thoughts he had been having about Sakura as he blocked attack after attack. It took a clear mind and fast reflexes to avoid taking any hits. Every now and then, he would see an opportunity to counter-attack, but the clone that was the target of his strike would duck out of the way. He had went to great lengths over the years to train his clones to dodge instead of block. In combat, it made them really difficult to get rid of, but in this practice it gave him only one advantage over them.

He could block, and they were forced to dodge.

It seemed like an eternity passed before Naruto finally scored a hit on one of the three clones. As his foot landed in it's face, the clone exploded in a bright puff of smoke. One of the other clones took the opportunity to get out a kunai, and swing at his face. Reacting quickly, Naruto ducked under the strike. Unfortunately, the other clone was prepared for that. With a quick slash, it cut behind his left leg, dropping him down on one knee. Naruto heard Rock Lee's gasp of surprise, and in the back of his mind, remembered that Lee hadn't ever seen his healing in effect.

Using his good leg, Naruto pushed himself up into a back flip escaping the two clones that were still trying for blood. Quickly, he drew his thumb through the blood on the back of his leg, and then sent his chakra to the area to repair the damage. Doing hand seals quickly, he called, "Weapon Summon no Jutsu!" When the smoke cleared, Naruto stood in a defensive stance with a long red Katana in his hands. With a grim smile on his mouth, he burst forward into action.

The Kyuubi had spent some time teaching Naruto how to utilize this particular weapon. While there was no scroll to sign, there was blood involved in the summoning, and the weapon could only be called with demon chakra. This meant that only two people that Naruto knew of would be able to summon the weapon, and the jutsu most certainly couldn't be replicated by someone with a Sharingan.

Many years ago, when the Kyuubi was still young and exploring the world, he would use a transformation technique to turn himself into a human and blend into the crowds. The Kyuubi made this particular sword himself, and used it often in his youth. Now it was Naruto's to utilize.

It didn't take him long to push the two clones back after he activated his weapon. The reach of the Katana was far superior to the two kunai's that the clones had been using. One of the clones leaped back out of the way, as Naruto swung. In a blur of movement, Naruto planted his foot and used the momentum of the swing to spin around on the other clone. Caught off guard, the clone could only try and block the attack with his Kunai.

Naruto then activated the special ability of the weapon. By pouring his chakra into the weapon, Naruto was able to increase it's reach and power. All of that chakra was channeled into an extension of the sword, almost invisible, but just as deadly as the real thing. Slicing straight through the kunai, the blade caught for a moment on the clone's flesh, before moving swiftly through the smoke. Prepared, this time, for any attacks through the smoke, he dropped into a roll sweeping his sword around.

The clone jumped over the attack, but Naruto was ready. Now one on one, Naruto was clear to devote all his attention to assault. The clone attempted to come at him with a couple of wild slashes, but Naruto blocked the first with his sword. When the second strike was coming around, Naruto abruptly dropped the sword. He grabbed the clones hand by the wrist, while his sword disappeared in a puff of smoke. He twisted himself into the clone's guard, and landed his fist right in his last doppelganger's face.

Drenched in sweat and panting for breath, Naruto limped over to where Rock Lee was staring at him, mouth gaping open. "Thats your warm up?" Lee asked him.

"Only sometimes," Naruto responded with a smile. The exercise had worked, and he was already too tired to think about what had happened earlier. "I better go get a shower and get ready to meet the Hokage."

Rock Lee nodded and waved goodbye as Naruto walked back to the village. He returned to punching the log, "1246, 1247, 1248 ..."

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There we have chapter 4! Hope you all liked it, and please review.

By the way, I don't mind if you leave a negative review, but if you are going to review with something like 'meh' at least tell me what you disliked/liked about it so I can improve.

Thanks for the support so far.


	5. Chapter 5: Chuunin for a Day

Time Apart Chapter 5:

Tsunade was sitting in her office, reading a report that Shikamaru had slipped under her door that morning. It was attached to a note that said he had already left to return to the Sand village and would be in touch. Tsunade knew that he was just trying to avoid being placed on another assignment. She returned to reading, when she heard three quiet taps. "Come in!" she shouted, not really paying attention. _Naruto beat a Sound Jounin with his hands tied behind his back? What has he been up to these last four years,_ she thought to herself. Looking up at the person who was walking in the door, she saw that it was Shizune.

"Good morning!" Shizune said cheerfully. Answering the Hokage's confused face she added, "I just got back from my mission. We traveled all night."

Tsunade looked at her assistant. She was unharmed, but Tsunade could tell she was tired. _I hate even having to send my assistant out on missions. The last batch of graduates from the academy were disappointing._ It was going to be a long morning. "I assume you report success?" Tsunade asked.

"Of course! With Kakashi and Gai, there wasn't much of a chance that we would fail. It was my job to report in. They both went to the hospital to be seen about some minor wounds," Shizune answered. Tsunade nodded in response. It was good that they were back. She filled Shizune in on what had happened last night. "Now that I have some manpower back in town, I think we should revisit the council members. Go get some rest, and tell Kakashi that I want to see him at 1500. Stress the importance of him being on time, will you."

Shizune nodded, and excused herself. They had been on an escort mission through what Orochimaru had claimed was his territory, and Tsunade knew that they were probably tired. It was doubtful that they got all the way through without having to fight. She looked at the clock and noticed that Naruto was late. _I should have known he wouldn't be here on time. Just because he looks older doesn't mean he isn't still Naruto. _Her thoughts were interrupted when there was a knock at the door. "Come in!"

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"Come in!" Tsunade said from inside the door. Naruto took a deep breath. He had been thinking about how he was going to explain what had happened to him. It was pretty unbelievably, but the evidence was unmistakable. She would have no choice but to believe him. He looked down at Kit.

"Well, here goes nothing." He opened the door and walked in. Things hadn't changed much in the last four years. Tsunade sat behind her desk, stacked with paperwork as usual. The only difference was the lack of Shizune, who was always in the background helping her out, and keeping her on task. It was just another sign that Konoha was having trouble keeping up with its missions.

"You're late," Tsunade said, gesturing for Naruto to sit. He complied, and Kit hopped up on the chair next to him. He was dreading telling her about him.

"Only by a couple of minutes. My warm up got out of hand this morning," he said. Tsunade looked down and noticed the bandage on his leg. Naruto knew it would be gone by the evening, fully healed by the demon chakra that was repairing it. He didn't heal as fast as when the Kyuubi was still inside him, guiding the chakra, but he still healed much faster than a normal human being.

"You should be more careful then. I can't afford to have Shinobi's injuring themselves," Tsunade said. She put her hands across her chest, and looked him in the eye. "Start with Sasuke, tell me where you have been, and then explain why you have a fox following you around."

Naruto took a deep breath and dug in. He told her all about the mission to retrieve Sasuke, and how the boy had tried to kill him. He made sure to mention that Sasuke both shoved a chidori through his chest, and broke his neck. Tsunade was especially interested in Sasuke's apparent transformation. The minutes ticked away as he continued to elaborate on the entire battle, finally ending with the Chidori versus the Rasengan. This was the part where it got complicated.

"… that's when I fell into the Chakra Tear. The Kyuubi told me that…" he was interrupted then.

"You spoke with the Kyuubi?" Tsunade asked. Naruto nodded sheepishly. She really wasn't going to like the next part.

"Well, I kind of made a deal with him actually. You see, time moved differently in the tear. That's why I look so much older than I should. I've lived eight years to your four. The Kyuubi agreed to train me, in exchange for a type of freedom." As expected Tsunade was pissed.

"You bargained with a demon that destroyed our city!" Suddenly she seemed to put the pieces together and glared at Kit.

"Don't worry lady, he drove a hard bargain." Kit said, slightly amused. Tsunade immediately rose to her feet.

"What have you done?" she exclaimed. Naruto squirmed in his seat.

"He did what he needed to do. I can't do anything in this body but walk around, so don't have a fit. He made sure of that," Kit said, sounding a little hurt at the last part.

"It's ok, Tsunade," Naruto said, trying to calm the situation down. "Like he said, he has no chakra, so he is like an ordinary fox. I can sense where he is at all times, and he has a vested interest in my survival. His spirit still resides in me. The seal is whole."

"Let me see," Tsunade said, walking across the room. Naruto lifted his shirt, and Tsunade channeled some chakra onto his stomach, showing the seal. After a few minutes she nodded. "Fine. Perhaps he should stay with me though. He may still be dangerous."

"No way! I trained you for freedom!" Kit exclaimed, preparing to flee the room.

Naruto calmed him down. "Kit stays with me. I honor my deals." Tsunade visibly calmed herself and then returned to her seat. She sighed, seemed to accept the information, and then moved on.

"So you trained with the most powerful demon known to man for eight years?" she asked.

"Yes," was Naruto's answer.

"Well, judging from that information, and the information contained in Shikamaru's report, I am hereby promoting you to the rank of Chuunin," she said. She was taking a breath to continue when Naruto leaped out his chair in celebration.

"WooHOO!" he screamed, dancing around the room. After a few moments, Tsunade cleared her throat loudly. "Oh, sorry," he said sheepishly, returning to his seat.

"Later today we are going to test you for Jounin rank." Naruto would have celebrated that too, but he was too stunned.

"What? Already?" he asked. One of the qualities Naruto now possessed, as opposed to eight years ago, was the ability to calm himself and listen. Kyuubi had beaten that into him.

"Yes. I am assigning you to a mission that leaves tomorrow morning. If you pass, you will be leading the mission. If you don't, which I doubt, then I will have to dig up someone else to lead the mission." Naruto nodded.

"What does the test consist of?" he asked. The Chuunin exam had taken a long time to complete. If he was supposed to leave tomorrow morning then the Jounin exam must be much shorter.

"You will spar with Kakashi. He will decide if you are fighting at Jounin level. During times of peace, the exam is longer and much more involved, but with the war I can't spare the time. I will observe, along with your team mates for the mission, and an assortment of other jounin," she answered. Naruto's mind was racing. _Testing for jounin, and leaving Konoha tomorrow morning?_

"Who will my team mates be?" he asked numbly.

"Rock Lee and Hyuuga Hinata. They both know of your involvement with the Kyuubi already, so they are the ideal team members," she said. "I will brief you on the mission when you are all together. Now get out of here, and meet me at the practice field at 0700 for your test." She tossed him a chuunin flak jacket. "And wear your uniform from now on. I put some forward pay in the pockets, so that you can buy some clothes that fit you."

"One last question," Naruto said as he stood, slipping the jacket on. "Where can I find Kiba?"

Tsunade raised her eyebrows. "He is teaching taijutsu at the academy. Why do you want him?"

"Trading."

--------------------------

Naruto went shopping first. He briefly flirted with the idea of getting Kit a collar, but decided not to when Kit threatened to bite off a finger in the middle of the night. He bought some shurikens and kunai, and then went to the clothing stores. Deciding that orange wasn't really his thing anymore, Naruto bought a few pairs of standard Konoha blue pants. He left instructions with the store to sew his spiral emblem on the chest of a a few black t-shirts. After paying them handsomely, he went off in search of Kiba around lunch time.

He found him in the teachers lounge, hungrily wolfing down some rice balls. His dog Akamaru sat next to him, much larger than the last time Naruto had seen him. He hadn't been in the room for two seconds before Akamaru started growling at Kit, and vice versa. Kiba put down his food and stood up.

"Who are you, and what are you doing to my do--" his face fell in recognition. "Naruto? I heard you were back, but I didn't believe it!" Flashing a feral smile Kiba gave him a big pat on the back. "What brings you to the Academy?"

"Well, I wanted you to teach me something." Naruto said. Kit and Akamaru had stopped growling at this point, but they were still looking at each other uneasily. "The jutsu you used to transform Akamaru into a clone of you, the 'Beast Transformation.'"

"No way man, that's a family jutsu! They would kill me if I taught it to you," Kiba responded immediately. "Besides, you never used pets before, what's with the fox?"

"I picked him up abroad," Naruto replied. "Your family doesn't have to know, I won't be using it often. Besides, I think I have something that might make it worth it to you."

"What's that?" Kiba asked. Naruto walked over to Akamaru and quickly plucked out one of his hairs. "Hey!" Kiba shouted, but was stopped when Naruto held up his hand. Walking across the room, Naruto performed three hand seals and slammed his palm on the floor. In a puff of smoke, Akamaru was transported across the room. "Woah!" Kiba exclaimed.

"It works across quite a long distance. Perfect for having Akamaru scout and then drawing him back to you if trouble hits," Naruto said, selling the simple summoning jutsu.

"Ok," Kiba said after a moments thought, "but don't do it in public where my family could find out that I taught it to you." He lead Naruto into the gym, and started explaining.

-----------------------------------------

After a few hours of training, Naruto decided that he knew everything he needed to know. It was just going to take some practice. He also needed some privacy to make the alterations to the jutsu. He thanked Kiba and went back to the clothing store. Grabbing his shirts, he ran home to change into his new Chuunin uniform quickly. With time to spare before his jounin testing, Naruto headed down to the Ichiraku ramen stand. He was surprised to see Hinata already eating there. Slipping through the curtains, he had a seat next to her.

"Hey Hinata," he said, surprising her. She spit out the drink she had in her mouth and turned to look at him, face red.

"Na-naruto-kun?" she gasped. "I'm sorry, you surprised me!" Naruto was perplexed. How could he have surprised her at a public stand. He didn't have time to think about it, because the man that ran the ramen stand interrupted.

"Did I hear you say Naruto?" he asked. Naruto nodded.

"It's good to be back!" Naruto said.

"Fire up the burners! We are in the big time again!" the man shouted, overjoyed that his best customer was back. "Hinata here has been keeping us open since you disappeared. Hey! It's been a long time, you look older!" He said, jumping from subject to subject. "Get this man some ramen. On the house this time!"

Naruto laughed and turned away from the man, looking at Hinata. "I didn't know you liked Ramen! I never saw you here before."

"I, um, never knew it was here until I saw you eating here one day. I tried it, and have been eating here ever since," she replied. Quietly she swallowed another mouthful of the noodles.

"Hey," Naruto started, "about yesterday." Hinata froze, half of the noodles hanging out of her mouth. "I wanted to say thank you for what you said. It meant a lot to me." Once again, Hinata turned red. _This girl is really strange,_ he thought to himself.

For a few moments, they didn't say anything. After Naruto finished his first bowl, he passed it down to Kit, who hungrily licked it clean. Hinata gave a little giggle at that, and reached down to pet the fox. "He's really cute," she said. "I bet he thinks of you as a brother. With your condition and all." Naruto chuckled.

"Yeah, probably something like that. Anyway, I gotta get going. I am testing for Jounin in about 20 minutes," he said, standing up and paying the stand. "This is for her meal. In thanks for keeping you open for me," he finished with a smile.

Hinata looked up at him then. What he said had finally sunk in. "Testing for Jounin?" she asked. Finally noticing his jacket, she bowed deeply. "Forgive me, I didn't notice before. Congratulations on your promotion," she spat out quickly.

"Stand up. It's ok. Tsunade wanted me to lead a mission tomorrow, so I am getting the fast test. You are supposed to be going with me on the mission. Why don't you come watch the test so you can see some of my new tricks," he offered. Nodding eagerly, Hinata grabbed her gear and accompanied him to the practice field.

-----------------------------

When Naruto finally got to the practice field, he was amazed at how many people showed up to see the match. Almost all the rookie nine had shown up, along with their instructors. Tsunade had a few chairs set up to the side where she sat with Kurenai, Gai, and Shizune. Kakashi was already standing in the middle of the field, reading his book. _I can't believe he still reads that trash,_ Naruto thought as he walked out to the field.

He looked down at Kit and said, "Stay with Hinata, I don't want you tripping me up." Naruto walked over to the Hokage, and then bowed. "I am here for the test."

"Right on time!" Tsunade replied. "You will fight Kakashi. At any point either one of you can call that the match is over. Part of the test is knowing when you are beaten. If we think you are fighting at a Jounin level, you will receive the promotion. It's pretty simple really."

"Sounds good," Naruto said. He walked out to the field to meet his old sensei. _Strange being almost as tall as him,_ he thought to himself. Kakashi stood lazily, one hand in his pocket, the other clutching his beloved novel. He looked at Naruto with his one good eye, the other one covered by his head protector.

"Glad you made it back," Kakashi said. Naruto just nodded. He didn't have anything against Kakashi, but the man hadn't exactly been that helpful in the past. He had spent more time training his beloved pupil Sasuke, but then there had been no evidence that Naruto was going to be anywhere near as powerful. The fact was that Kakashi even missed out on the fight when Naruto beat Neiji during the chuunin exam.

"Glad to be back," Naruto answered. He cracked his neck to both sides and crouched down into a fighting stance. "Wish you hadn't taught Sasuke Chidori though."

"My mistake. It made sense at the time." Kakashi answered simply. "I hear you have had an interesting teacher these last few years."

"More interesting that you know. Enough talk though, let's get this show on the road." Naruto said cockily. Kakashi nodded and put his book in his pouch. He got out two bells and attached them to his waste.

"I won't go easy on you this time." Kakashi said. "I don't pass people that aren't worth it."

"You won't have time to worry about keeping the bells from me," Naruto grinned. With a sudden blur of motion he went through the seal sequence for his favorite jutsu. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" To his sides ten clones formed, and prepared to run in at Kakashi.

"Rushing in still, huh?" Kakashi asked, eyes never leaving the real Naruto. "That isn't very promising." Naruto didn't respond. He wanted Kakashi to know which one was the real him. Standing back, he let his clones sweep in to the attack. Kakashi quickly replicated the seals that Naruto had made earlier, and produced his own shadow clones. While the two sets of clones battled it out, Kakashi flew forward, aiming for the real Naruto, who was standing still. "You are going to need to do better than this!" Kakashi said, striking out.

Naruto took the punch directly in the face, and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. _That couldn't have been a clone! I never took my eyes off of him, _Kakashi thought .

Behind him he heard Naruto whisper, "Misinformation is a ninja's most important tool." Kakashi spun around into a sweeping kick, that Naruto easily dodged. Responding with several kicks of his own Naruto pushed Kakashi back several steps. Behind his opponent, Kakashi noticed that the Naruto clones had beaten his own almost unanimously. When they were finished, they lined up behind Naruto.

"Your taijutsu is strong. Your clones are amazing." Kakashi said.

"Most people think of clones as a distraction. In order for their clones to not give away who the real one is, they have to block like a normal fighter. I don't care if you know which one is the real me, so my clones dodge attacks. Since Kage Bunshin clones are solid, they are more effective as extra hands than diversions," Naruto explained. "Now I am going to end this."

"Unlikely!" Kakashi said, going into a set of hand seals. Naruto didn't let him finish. With incredible speed, he closed the distance and began assaulting Kakashi. Pouring chakra into his own limbs to get them to match Naruto's speed, the older man was almost too busy to notice the clones moving to surround him. _Time to get rid of those things. One good hit to the real Naruto will finish them._ Kakashi jumped up into a round house kick, and at the same time pulled several shurikens from his pouch. Letting them fly at all the clones, he watched as one didn't dodge quite fast enough and got nicked. When a trickle of blood showed itself dripping from his arm Kakashi knew he had his mark.

Knowing that the Naruto in front of him was a clone he sent a kick in its direction. Fully expecting the clone to dodge, he was surprised when it caught his leg. He was even more surprised when it didn't dissolve into smoke.

"Replacement Technique." Naruto said. Smiling, Naruto violently yanked on the leg, dropping Kakashi on the ground, then leaped high into the air. Rough hands grabbed Kakashi from behind as another Naruto clone held him down. His mind racing, Kakashi looked on helplessly as yet another Naruto jumped up and spun the real one towards the ground a high velocity, blotting out the sun. The one that was holding him said, "It took me a long time to perfect the replacement technique to work with my Bunshin clones, and the end result is that I can switch places with any of them at any time." More clones were holding Kakashi down now, and their strength was surprising, to say the least.

The real Naruto had curled himself into a ball and was flying towards Kakashi and the clones that were holding him down. Repeating years of practice, Naruto emitted chakra out of all of his chakra pores. Spinning the energy around to surround himself, the boy transformed himself into a giant Rasengan.

Kakashi was panicking now. Nine clones were holding him down quite well, and there didn't seem to be any way he could avoid the oncoming attack. One of the Naruto's that was hold him said, "Rasengan Cannonball!"

"You'll kill me! You win!" Kakashi shouted closing his eye.

"Better move!" a Naruto said, as the clones holding Kakashi down disintegrated into smoke. Using every ounce of his strength, Kakashi leaped out of the way at the last second. The giant Rasengan slammed into the ground, drilling deep beneath the earth. The noise was deafening. After a few seconds it stopped. A few quiet moments passed, and then Naruto crawled out of the hole, exhausted.

"You pass," Kakashi said. "I want a rematch sometime though. I will use my Sharingan, and then we will see how you cope."

Naruto smiled, "I look forward to it." Standing up, he walked over to Tsunade and the others.

"By unanimous decision, we bestow the rank of Jounin upon you." Tsunade said formally. Gai spoke next

"The fires of youth burned strongly in you Naruto, forging you into a man made of steel! Excellent job!" Naruto smiled. He bowed to the judges and then turned to walk over to his friends.

"Meet in my office in ten minutes for your mission briefing. Bring Rock Lee and Hinata," Tsunade said to him as he walked away. She watched with pride as his friends greeted him with cheers and congratulations. He was going to make a fine ninja after all.

---------------------------------

There we go, chapter 5 is complete. Once again, I hope you all enjoyed it. If you want, be sure to check out my homepage. It's listed on my profile.

As always, I enjoy reading your reviews, so please leave them! Thanks.


	6. Chapter 6: Obsession

* * *

Time Apart Chapter 6

* * *

Sakura watched from the distant tree line as Naruto finished the match, beating Kakashi. _He really has gotten strong,_ she thought to herself. She was sitting on a branch, idly swinging her legs back and forth as she watched her ex-teammate test for Jounin. She had spent a lot of time thinking about what had gone on between them last night. She didn't think she was ready to speak with him yet.

She watched with curiosity as he walked over to the collection of their friends, met with cheers. He would be the third one of them to make Jounin. Probably only because he had been away. She couldn't believe the progress he had made; from dead last, to this highly skilled ninja that fought in front of her. She watched him smiling easily and talking to Hinata and Rock Lee. Moments later the three went off, along with that fox that had been following him around.

"Don't you want to talk to him?" Kakashi asked from behind her. His sudden appearance was enough to scare her into falling off her branch. Landing roughly on her backside, she grimaced as she stood up.

"No," she said. Kakashi cocked his head to the side, and then joined her on the ground.

"Why not? You were friendly enough when you were on my team. As I recall, he had quite a crush on you," Kakashi said. It had been years since Team 7 had done anything. When Sasuke left and Naruto was considered dead, Kakashi knew his team was irreparable. Tsunade had taken Sakura as an apprentice, and Kakashi was left doing solo missions, or missions with other high level ninja.

"We already talked. He isn't the same," Sakura said cryptically. Kakashi nodded.

"If by that you mean that he has grown up, then yes. He's had some rough times in his day. You don't know the half of it. Being betrayed by Sasuke probably hurt him the deepest," Kakashi said. As always, when anyone mentioned Sasuke around Sakura she tensed up.

"He didn't betray us! He was tricked. He is still redeemable," she said, at this point trying to convince herself more than anything.

Kakashi sighed. "Sakura, Sasuke isn't coming back. He was tricked, but not how you think. Even the council has agreed that he is at least an A class missing nin. If seen, he is to be brought back dead or alive." That brought tears to her eyes. "Naruto is back _now_. We thought we lost him, but we didn't. He came back, stronger than ever, at a time when we need skilled shinobi more than anything."

"I told Sasuke I loved him before he left," she sobbed. "Naruto _promised_ he would bring him back! When neither returned…" She cried harder. Inside, she railed against herself for being weak. Kakashi put his hand on her back in comfort.

"Naruto couldn't help what happened. Neither could you. It's stupid to blame him or yourself. Blame me for not being there in time. Blame Oroshimaru for tempting him. Blame Sasuke for actually causing this," Kakashi said. "Whatever happened between you and Naruto since his return isn't worth it."

Sakura wiped the tears from her face. Kakashi was right. It was stupid of her to be mad at Naruto. It was selfish of her to think that she was the only one who was betrayed. Thinking back on the scar that adorned Naruto's chest, she decided that she wouldn't be mad at him for searching out Sasuke in his own way. It just meant that she had to get to him first.

"If you need to talk, you know where to find me," Kakashi said in parting. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei," she said to the air. Sakura stood up, with new determination in her step, and walked towards the Hokage's office.

* * *

Naruto almost laughed aloud when he saw Kit trapped in Hinata's arms. Somewhere along the way, the fox had stopped struggling, and the end result was Hinata carrying him all the way to Hokage's office. Once they arrived, she put him down, and he immediately scampered over to Naruto, hiding behind his legs.

"Kit is such a sweetie!" Hinata said, full of sugar. Tsunade's eyes met Naruto's and they shared a knowing look and a wink. Having a seat, the three ninjas prepared for their briefing. Tsunade cleared her throat and started.

"First things first. This mission team is under the command of our new Jounin, Uzumaki Naruto. Hinata and Rock Lee, you have both been chosen because of your knowledge of his condition. The mission I am assigning to you is considered an A class," she paused, and ruffled through some papers for a moment. Getting out a file and some photographs, she continued. "We received these two days ago by carrier pigeon." Handing the pictures to Naruto, she leaned back in her chair.

"Sasuke!" Naruto hissed. The picture showed what was undoubtedly a small town, probably on the outskirts of the fire country. The marketplace was busy with people, but one in particular was circled. Wearing the traditional Sound uniform, this person, who was undoubtedly Sasuke, stood flanked by two other Sound ninjas. Growling, Naruto passed the photos to his other two teammates. Tsunade continued her briefing.

"Accompanying the photograph, was a letter from the head of the town council. Apparently, the Sound ninjas have suppressed the town, and are using it as a launching point for other attacks. The letter says that many of the citizens were killed, but a few were left alive to continue farming."

Hinata gasped, her hand going to her mouth. "Those poor people."

Rock Lee, who had been unusually quiet this whole time piped in, "Hokage-sama, why only send three ninja's?"

"Because your mission isn't to liberate the town," she answered. Tsunade got a map out of her drawer and rolled it out on her desk. Pointing at another town several miles away, she continued, "Jiraiya is stationed here, heading up our intelligence people. My guess is that he already knows about the attack, and is trying to counter, but we haven't heard from him. Your mission is to get in contact with Jiraiya, and help to counter the attacks that Sasuke's group is engaging in. Your _secondary_ mission is to kill Uchiha Sasuke, or take him alive if possible. Keep them busy, and in about three weeks I will have most of my Jounins back in from all their missions. We will meet up and liberate the village."

Naruto nodded. _So we are a diversion. Getting the attention of Sasuke by countering his attacks into our territory. We keep him busy until Tsunade can rally the strength to oust him completely._ After a moment, he stood up. "We leave tomorrow morning at 0800. Meet me at the gates with your packs, ready to go. We travel light, and fast." He turned to Tsunade and flashed a smile, "We will have a successful mission."

* * *

Sakura had been planning on talking to Naruto after he left Tsunade's office. That's why she was in the hall. That's why she overheard the name Sasuke. That's why she decided to get her things packed and follow them. Sasuke would listen to her this time. He had to, or Naruto was going to kill him.

* * *

Hinata was the happiest girl in the world. Yesterday she discovered that the boy she had looked up to, and had a crush on, throughout most all of her childhood, was alive. Then she discovered he was a hero, a capable fighter, and really handsome as well. Now today, she had been told that she was going on a prolonged mission with him. The only problem right now was herself. She had always wanted to say things, but they never got out. She always wanted to do things, but then she would second guess herself and mess everything up.

_I have to do this right,_ she thought to herself. _This could be my only chance to win Naruto's love, and I am going to do whatever it takes. _She was walking the nearly empty streets home, pepping herself up for the coming mission. _I can handle this. I can show Naruto that I am strong, like him._ Over the last several years, Hinata had spent considerable amounts of her free time both training her body, and training her mind.

She was trying desperately to break out of the shell that she had made for herself. Though it seemed that no matter what she did, it was never enough to please her father. Every day, she left early in the morning, and every day, she returned home after dark in order to avoid him. She trained hard, but Hiashi never saw it. He was too busy teaching Hanabi, or spending time perfecting Neiji's techniques. Today though, she had to go straight home in order to pack.

Walking into the compound, she was surprised to see Hiashi waiting for her. "Good evening father," she said, bowing low. Hoping to avoid a conversation, she started to walk by him to get to her room.

"Wait," he said, his command halting her immediately. "I've been told you were involved in the coup two days ago." He said. Hinata thought for a moment that her father might have noticed something she had done as praise-worthy. Those thoughts were shot down quickly. "You know about the Uzumaki boy now. You must know why I have never approved of your obsession with him."

She winced. Had she been that obvious that even her father noticed? She looked down to the ground in embarrassment. "I-I don't think there is anyth-," she was cut off.

"You don't think do you!" he shouted. "You are part of the greatest clan in this village. I will not have you fawning after demons!" His accusation stung Hinata. For the first time in her life, she was so angry that she had the courage to stand up to him.

"He isn't a demon! You should be thankful for him!" she shouted, tears starting to form. She could see the cold fury in his eyes, and knew that she had gone too far. He raised his hand to strike her, and she closed her eyes. The blow never landed.

"Release me, now," her father said menacingly. Opening her eyes, Hinata saw Neiji holding her father's wrist. He was still dressed in his Anbu uniform.

"You will not hit her," Neiji said. After a moment, he released his uncle's wrist. If it actually came to a fight, Neiji had no fantasies that he could win. Sometimes a ninja did what was needed, without thinking of personal safety first.

"So you defend him as well?" Hiashi asked coldly.

"I defend what is right. Should we be glad that you were on a mission two nights ago? Would you have sided with them?" Neiji asked. Hinata could feel the situation spiraling out of control. Before her father could incriminate himself, she spoke.

"That isn't important. I am here to pack my things. I am leaving on a mission tomorrow. Excuse me." The two men parted as she walked quickly down the hallway to her room. She could here Hiashi telling Neiji not to expect any more training, as she finally reached her room. She closed the door, and started crying. _What was I thinking, talking back to father?_ After a few minutes, she collected herself and gathered what she would need for the trip.

She wasted no time. She wasn't about to stay here tonight while her father was still so angry. Throwing her things out the window, she was right behind them. She ran down the street, until she finally caught up with Neiji.

"Thank you," she said, falling into step beside him.

"You really have it bad for Naruto don't you?" Neiji asked. "I've never heard you talk back to Hiashi like that."

She nodded her head silently. Her and Neiji had grown closer over the years, and they were more like brother and sister now. Ever since Naruto beat him in the Chuunin exam, he had changed.

"You can stay in my apartment tonight," he offered. She nodded.

"Thank you," she said.

* * *

_Sasuke, _Naruto thought. The name went through his head over and over as he walked alone, back to his apartment. He'd had eight years for the pain of the betrayal to subside, but it hadn't really. Every time he thought about it, his anger would flare up. _I won't miss my chance this time. I won't falter or pull my punches. That jerk has caused too much pain in this village for that._

Kit followed close behind. He knew what Naruto was probably thinking about. Having heard his thoughts for twenty years, he knew Naruto's mind pretty well. He was pretty anxious to pay that Uchiha brat back himself. Not that he could really do anything in his current body, but that new jutsu Naruto was working on was promising.

"Can you believe that Hinata girl picked me up! Like a housecat!" Kit complained when they finally reached Naruto's apartment. Naruto didn't respond. He was busy packing his bags. "I bet Kakashi was surprised by some of those moves you pulled." Naruto still didn't respond, lost in thought. "HEY!" Kit shouted.

"What?" Naruto said finally. "Can't you see I am busy!" He threw another couple shirts in his bag.

"Look, you are going to have to be clear headed to pull this off. That brat has been training with Orochimaru for four years. You've got experience on him, but he isn't alone, and neither are you," Kit said. Naruto sat down in a huff.

"I can't believe what I am hearing. A several thousand year old demon advocating clear thought and looking after my teammates," Naruto said. "Got a soft spot for one of them? Hinata huh? She is cute, I will admit that."

Kit growled. "I _am_ several thousand years old, so you should listen to me. I'm not about to let us get killed because you are so focused on Sasuke that you get ambushed." Naruto was normally a pretty upbeat guy. He only got like this when he thought about Sasuke. He took a deep breath and sat down.

"You're right," Naruto said. "I've never led a team before. I need to do this right. Besides, he might not even still be there when we arrive."

* * *

Rock Lee woke up early in the morning. He was excited that he was going to be going on an A class mission. Not many chuunin got the opportunity. He was definitely looking forward to it, and soon, he would be able to apply to test for Jounin again. The last time he did it, everything was going well until his opponent caught him in a genjutsu. Every now and then he would try practicing some jutsu out on the practice field, but as usual, nothing happened. He entered the kitchen.

"Good morning Gai-sensei," Lee said to his idol, who was now his adopted father. Gai was cooking a large breakfast, as usual. He always claimed that a good breakfast and early rising made a ninja great. Just one of the many sayings of Gai's that Lee had written in his notebook.

"Good morning Lee. Are you prepared for your mission?" Gai asked, scooping an assortment of food onto Lee's plate. Lee nodded while eating hungrily. "Good. Remember, if you must fight the Sharingan, stare at his feet, and fight with burning passion. If you do these things, you cannot fail!"

Lee stood up from the table and flashed Gai a thumbs up. "I won't fail Gai-sensei!" he said. The pair finished breakfast, and then they headed out to the practice field for warm ups. When they arrived, Naruto was there already, sparring with a single clone while his pet fox looked on. As the combat moved back and forth, the fox would calmly follow it. Lee could have sworn that he saw the fox nodding occasionally.

Lee spent some time on push-ups and sit-ups before he began punching his log. After he and Gai had warmed up, they started sparring together. Lee always enjoyed sparring with Gai, because he was really his only equal in terms of Taijutsu. Of course he hadn't had the chance to spar with Naruto, but he imagined it would come soon. As usual, the two of them fell into a rhythm of attack and counterattack, punches and kicks.

He heard Naruto shout, "See you at the gates," as he left, but he wasn't really paying attention. After a few more minutes of sparring, Gai stopped.

"Enough, it's time to go. I have a meeting with the Hokage," the larger man said. Lee nodded. He jogged back to his house to gather his things, and then headed for the gate.

* * *

When Hinata woke up, Neiji was already gone. She quickly took a shower and got dressed. Gathering her things, she grabbed a quick bite to eat and ran out the door. Walking through town, she was delighted to see the members of the council that were involved in the coup two days ago picking up trash. Two Chuunin that had returned were guarding them, shouting at them to work faster. She was glad to see that their punishment had continued.

When she neared the gate, she saw that Naruto and Lee were already there. Noticing that Naruto's pet was missing, the first thing she asked upon arrival was, "Where is Kit?"

Naruto smiled, and pointed down the street. "Getting breakfast," he said. Hinata's gaze followed his finger, and she saw Kit trotting down the street, one fish in his mouth. She giggled.

"Somehow, I doubt that he paid for that," Lee said. Moments later, the fish seller rounded the corner, chasing after him. The fox ran faster, and Naruto went out to meet them.

"That pest stole my fish!" the man said, obviously hoping to get Naruto to stop the animal. When Kit stopped and crouched behind Naruto the man figured it out.

"Oh, he's yours." Noticing the whisker marks on Naruto's face, the man took a step back. "K-keep it, I don't want any trouble with your fox."

Hinata's face fell. There were still people who feared Naruto. Now there were even more superstitious about him, thanks to the fox that followed him around. She had heard some people even whispering that Kit _was_ the demon. She had already considered that, but then decided that Kit was way too cute for that.

"No, it's ok. I will pay for it," Naruto said, reaching back into his wallet. "How much?"

The man eyed Naruto's full purse and said, "Ten." Hinata knew that was a lie.

"You sell them to my family for five," she said. The man looked at her for a second, and then recognizing her eyes, bowed.

"Forgive me Hyuuga-sama! I did not know you were with him," he said, panicked now.

"Hinata, it's ok," Naruto said. He handed the man a ten piece and said, "Now get out of here." The fish seller complied. "I'm used to paying more than everyone else." He turned to Kit. "You need to stop making trouble for me. I thought you were going to hunt for your breakfast. I always knew you were lazy."

Hinata watched in amazement as Kit seemed to understand the words, and growled at Naruto. _He must be really smart like Akamaru,_ she thought to herself. She walked over and gave him a pat on the head. Then turned to Naruto.

"Let's get going," she said.

"Yeah," Naruto said. Walking back to the gates to join Rock Lee, Naruto got his map out of his pack. Once he was confident that he had memorized the way to their first night stop, he put it back in his pack. After Kit had finished devouring his fish, he jumped up on Naruto's back. "Let's do this thing!" he shouted. In moments, the three Konoha ninjas were zooming from tree to tree, on their way to their first mission as a team.

* * *

Sakura watched as Naruto's group sped off. Shouldering her pack, she walked out the gates slowly. She was going to take a different route than them, so there was no hurry. Instead of going to meet with Jiraiya, she only had one target, Sasuke.

* * *

Tsunade sat in her office, with her head down on her desk. _I hope they can handle things. This is the first time Sasuke has been seen since his betrayal. _Just as she was about to doze off, Shizune burst through the doors. Coming alert quickly, the Hokage shouted, "Can't you knock!"

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama. Sakura has not reported for her lesson with me today," the younger girl said. Being the Hokage meant being busy. For the more elementary lessons in medic techniques, Sakura went to Shizune.

"It's probably no big deal. Kakashi said she had some fight with Naruto, so she is probably just sulking. Give her a few hours, then check her apartment if she still hasn't shown up." Tsunade said, with a yawn.

* * *

The journey itself was really uneventful. Naruto was disappointed, and more than a little put off that there had been no brushes with Sound troops. Rock Lee had told him that he almost always ran into one or two small groups while he was out on missions. Days went by quickly, and the three of them talked during the journey. Hinata had really opened up in the last four years, and at least talked like a normal person now, minus the occasional stutter.

At night, Naruto would take the first watch. After the other two were asleep, he would go and practice the Beast Transformation with Kit. It was going to be important for Kit to become a useful part of the team if they were to fight a lot of high level Sound Ninjas. Naruto was good, but he couldn't handle more than two or three jounins at once.

In the first few days of travel, Naruto and Lee would get up early, and do their warm ups separately. Every morning, Rock Lee would watch Naruto fight a clone, although he never fought more than one anymore. The only time that Lee had seen him do more was that first morning. Soon enough, Hinata was also getting up early to join the boys in their warm up. After five days of travel, the group was pretty tight nit. Kit had finally resigned himself to being carried around by Hinata every now and then, and Naruto had decided that Kit secretly liked it, even though he complained about it every night.

After the sixth day of travel, Naruto's team arrived at the village where Jiraiya was supposed to be. It was time for the mission to begin.

* * *

Chapter 6 complete. Tomorrow is my wife's birthday, (the editor), so everyone please be sure to wish her a Happy Birthday. She works hard to fix all my stupid grammar mistakes. One day, she even says she is going to write her own fanfiction.

Anyway, as always, let me know what you think. More action soon, obviously. Cheers.


	7. Chapter 7: Captive

Time Apart Chapter 7

* * *

It hadn't been hard for Sakura to figure out from which village Sasuke had been basing his attacks. Really, it was mostly a connect the dots. Once she found a town that had been attacked, she went to the next town, getting closer and closer. It wasn't long until she arrived.

Konoha was surely aware that she had left by now. It had been five days. She was almost sure that Tsunade had figured out where she was headed, and most likely had sent other ninjas to retrieve her. She briefly considered the rampant stupidity involved in the actions she was about to take, but then decided that this would be her only chance to save Sasuke.

She took a deep breath. She was standing in the trees that circled the village where Sasuke was. There were a few Sound ninjas about, but they were visible, and she didn't think she would have much of a problem sneaking in. During the journey, she had removed anything that marked her as a ninja. That way, she could get in and try to blend in with the villagers that still stayed there while she waited. Once she found a chance to speak with Sasuke alone, she would.

Even if he didn't come back with her, she could at least warn him that Naruto was going to kill him. He had to know, so he could flee. Having seen what Naruto did to Kakashi during his Jounin test, she wasn't so sure her hero could cope. It wasn't fair, Naruto had four extra years to practice. With practiced ease, Sakura zipped through the shadows, avoiding detection. Waiting for the right moment, she sat patiently. When the way was clear, she erupted forward. Putting all her chakra into her feet, she scaled up the wall outside the town. In less than three seconds, she was in.

Taking a quick look around, she decided that she hadn't been seen, and walked casually toward the center of town.

* * *

Sasuke sat in the town hall, speaking with some of his subordinates. He was making sure that the attacks on the area were going as planned. When Kabuto walked in the door, he waved the other ninjas away.

"Haruno Sakura has sneaked into the village," Kabuto said quietly. Offhandedly adjusting his glasses, the tall silver haired man waited for his master's answer.

"Which one is that?" Sasuke said. If anyone who knew Sasuke had been in the room, they would have noticed that the voice did not match the body.

"The one that chased the previous tenant of that body around like a love sick puppy, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto responded.

"Then we have caught the wrong animal in our trap. The Kyuubi vessel has changed. When I last saw him, he would have rushed right here. Impetuous youth," Sasuke spat.

"She can still be of some use. We could use her to lure the boy here," Kabuto suggested. Sasuke stood up, and wiped his hand across his face. As the hand passed, a genjutsu returned his features to that of his original body.

"Let us pay her a visit then," Orochimaru said.

* * *

Naruto smiled at the thought of seeing Jiraiya again. The old pervert was usually fun to be around, but he was rarely ever mature. Hinata and Lee stood beside him as they waited for the innkeeper. First, they needed to get a room so that they could stay for the night, in case he couldn't find the hermit. In a town this size though, he was pretty sure he knew what type of places to look at.

"Will that be one room or two?" the Innkeeper asked. Naruto and Hinata both answered at the same time.

"One"

"Two"

"One," Naruto reinforced. He turned to the side and said quietly, "You have been sleeping in the same tent with us for the last six days, and if the village is attacked in the night, I want us all in the same room. I don't want you to be ambushed all alone and killed while Lee and I sleep quietly."

Hinata nodded. Secretly, she was happy to be staying in the same room, but, as always, if word got to her father it would be scandalous. Even people this far out knew of the mighty Hyuuga clan. In the end though, it wouldn't matter. She had bigger battles to fight right now.

Naruto watched his teammates get settled into the room. "I am going to go look for Jiraiya. You two get settled, and set up our room. If you want to go have a listen around town to see what you can find out about the attacks, go ahead." He walked out the door, Kit trailing behind him.

Once they were out of earshot, Kit asked, "Headed to the hot springs aren't we?"

Naruto smiled, "Yes we are. If I know anything about that pervert, it's that the best place to find him is spying on girls. Research my ass." Hours went by, as Naruto checked every hot spring and bathhouse in the city. Finally he hit the jackpot.

Using some very ingenious ninja techniques, Jiraiya sat in the trees overlooking the girls bath. Naruto considered his options for getting the legendary ninja's attention, and then decided that exposing him would be the best way. Snickering to himself, he stealthily worked his way to the tree. Walking around to the side closest to the bathhouse, he activated his jutsu. The Rasengan cut quickly through part of the tree, causing it to lean precariously. The sudden movement of the tree threw Jiraiya off balance.

Naruto watched with some satisfaction as Jiraiya splashed into the hot bath water. The women screamed and ran about, trying to cover themselves before the lecherous pervert could catch another glance. When Jiraiya resurfaced, his drenched look of embarrassment was enough to send Naruto into fits of laughter.

Unfortunately, his fits of laughter attracted the attention of the women as well.

"There's another one!" one of the ladies shouted. Naruto's laughter cut itself short as a mob of half-clothed women began to form up.

"Let's get out of here!" Jiraiya shouted, shooting out from the water. Leaving a trail of soggy ground behind him, the legendary sennin vanished into smoke. Naruto was not far behind him.

Once they had successfully escaped, Jiraiya slowed down to catch his breath. Turning towards Naruto, he said, "Now what was the big idea there? Who are you and why did you-" Recognition dawned as he saw the whisker marks on Naruto's face. "Naruto?"

"The one and only," was Naruto's reply. Jiraiya whooped loudly.

"I knew you weren't dead! All the others were convinced, but I knew my student couldn't be put down by the likes of Sasuke. Your older than you should be though," Jiraiya said. Many things could be said about Jiraiya, but he was perceptive. "Is that fox who I think it is?"

Naruto shrugged, "Yeah, I have a lot to tell you. We are here on a mission."

"I assume you have the Kyuubi under control? It wouldn't be following you around otherwise?" Jiraiya asked.

"Under control? He has no such thing! I come and go as I please," Kit said indignantly.

"Yeah, I got him under control. He has been training me for the last eight years. The others don't know about him though, so keep it quiet," Naruto said.

"Others? You're with a team? Good, I need some backup. Some Sound upstarts have been doing raids all along this area. I was hoping Tsunade would send someone," he paused, "wait, eight years?" The two men walked towards the city, getting closer to the inn as they talked. Naruto explained the Chakra tear.

"I'm leading the team actually. I am a jounin now," Naruto said proudly. "Tsunade said that she hadn't been in contact with you." Jiraiya stopped when he heard that.

"Then my messages are being intercepted. This may be more than just raids," Jiraiya said. "They may be gearing up for something. If it wasn't my message, then how did you learn of things down here?"

"A Council member from the town where Sasuke is leading the Sound teams managed to get a letter out by pigeon," Naruto said. The two had made it to the inn, and Jiraiya was pleased to note that it was the same one he had been staying in.

"Fancy that, our tastes are the same. Anyway, the councilmen couldn't have possibly sent out a letter. The people that escaped that city told me all the council were killed to begin with. The letter was probably a lure. This may be a trap," Jiraiya said. The two men walked up the stairs, and Naruto gave three soft taps on his door.

"Trap or not, we have to try and bring down Sasuke. This is the first time we have a concrete location on him," Naruto said. Hinata answered the door.

"Woah! Naruto, you didn't tell me you were staying with a girl! An attractive one at that," Jiraiya said loudly, eliciting a blush from Hinata.

"I'm not staying alone with her. Lee is here too. This is my team," Naruto said. Seeing that Lee wasn't in the room, Naruto asked, "Where is Lee anyway?"

"He went to talk to the villagers about the attacks. We didn't think you would find Jiraiya-sama so quickly." She bowed deeply to Jiraiya, who smoothly grabbed her hand and kissed it.

"Lay off ero-sennin," Naruto said, snatching Hinata's hand from his grip. He put his arm around her and led her to the other side of the room. Not noticing that the contact had made her turn roughly the shade of a tomato, he whispered in her ear, "Pay no attention to ero-sennin, he is nothing but a pervert!"

"I heard that Naruto!" Jiraiya shouted. Hinata was about to faint. Naruto was of course oblivious to the effect of his actions because he was busy yelling at Jiraiya. When Hinata plopped down on her pallet, she noticed Kit from across the room. His eyes had never left her. While the two men were arguing, Kit crossed the room and sat next to Hinata, rubbing against her legs. She sighed as she scratched behind his ears.

"I wonder if he will ever notice me?" she asked quietly to the animal sitting beside her, confident that he could not understand.

* * *

Rock Lee was the first person to notice that something was amiss. The town had guards that were supposed to be patrolling the area, but when Lee saw a group of guards headed into the city, he thought they looked strange. Tailing the men, Lee was growing increasingly alarmed as they headed straight for the town council building.

He didn't know much about the guards around the town, but the villagers he had talked to sounded pretty confident in them. While it made perfect sense for the town guards to make a report to the council, Lee couldn't shake a strange feeling he was having about these particular men. While still following the men, he beckoned for a child to come forward.

"How would you like to make some money?" he asked while still walking.

"What can I do mister?" the kid asked, excited at the prospect. Reaching into his pockets, Lee grabbed a handful of money and told the kid the directions to their inn. "Tell the girl named Hinata, and a blond man with a pet fox, that Lee might need their help in the council building. Hurry please." Nodded eagerly the boy took off.

Lee decided it was time to test his theory. Putting on a drunken act, he stumbled into the men. Immediately, there was a flurry of movement from the men, pushing him past them and onto the ground. "Watch yourself!" they shouted angrily. That was when Lee got a good look at them from the front.

He realized why he thought they were suspicious. None of their clothes really fit, and they were torn in some places. One man's uniform was stained with hastily washed out blood in the heart area. These men were not the guards that should be returning. He considered at least waiting for Hinata to arrive, since he didn't know if Naruto was back at the room yet, but then decided that whatever these men wanted in the council building, he wasn't going to let them do it.

Still pulling off the drunken act, Lee hauled himself up from the ground. Stumbling forward towards the men again, he watched as they tensed up. Using the momentum from the stumble, Lee gracefully moved from a drunken stupor, to a lightning swift kick to the face. One man went sprawling as the weights attached to Lee's legs slammed into his face. When he landed, Lee heard the sound of metal on metal as several Kunai and a Sound headband fell out of his cloak.

"I knew it!" Lee shouted, already defending himself from the other two mens attacks. The one he had kicked was slowly getting to his feet. Lee was a whirlwind of movement as he caught or avoided kick after punch. His own counterattacks were like surgical strikes, darting out only occasionally, but always hitting their marks. Alone, it was all he could do to keep the three men occupied. Thankfully, he noticed more of the town guard arriving at the scene.

Sadly, since the three men were wearing guard uniforms, the other guards thought that Lee was the attacker, and so targeted him. All of Lee's attacks were cut short, as the extra men would occasionally dart in with long spears. The Green Beast of Konoha became a green blur, as he deftly dodged every attack thrown in his direction.

He couldn't last long in this kind of situation. That is why he was glad that his team showed up at that time.

"Stop it, you idiots, the green one is a Ninja from Konoha, the other men are the enemy!" Jiraiya said, stepping into the area. With a few quick blows, he had stopped anyone of the guards that were trying to get in some potshots at Lee.

Hinata didn't waste any time getting into the combat. Hardly breaking her run, she slid in between Lee and one of the three Sound Ninjas. Stopping the mans attack cold with a block from her forearm, she darted her other hand underneath and punched him hard in the stomach. The man let loose a shout as he clutched his gut, moving backwards. Hinata smiled grimly with satisfaction as the man threw up. Moving her leg upward, she ended his involvement in the battle with a snap kick to the back of his head.

On the other front, Naruto had intercepted one of the ninjas from Lee's area. It was almost comical watching him block the other mans attacks without hardly any effort. When Naruto was done playing with the man, he grabbed him by the wrist, and with a sharp twist, broke it. Swirling around behind the man, he locked his leg around him and forced him to the ground. Within seconds, Naruto had the man at his mercy, arms behind his back and bound.

Free of his other two opponents, Lee was ready to cut loose. He turned the tables on the Sound ninja, moving into attack instead of defense. The man was able to defend himself for a few seconds before being overwhelmed by Lee's attacks. Once the last opponent was down, the Konoha ninjas took stock of the situation.

"Weren't very good were they?" Lee said.

"No they weren't." Hinata answered. She was usually winded after a battle, but this time she barely had to do a thing. These men were mid to high level Genin, no better.

"Why are you here?" Naruto asked, viciously twisting his captives arm behind his back.

"We are just messengers!" the man shouted pitifully. "Please don't kill me!"

"Pathetic," Naruto said. Jiraiya was busy telling the crowd what was going on and keeping their attention off what Naruto was doing.

"Whats the message?" Hinata asked, walking up to the struggling man.

"A photo. Orochimaru-sama said it was for someone named Naruto!" the sound ninja said.

"Orochimaru?" Jiraiya said, walking in on the interrogation.

"What about Sasuke?" Naruto asked. "Is he still in the area." The Sound ninja laughed.

"Yes, just look at the message. It is in my front pocket," the sound ninja said. Naruto held him up while Jiraiya went through his pockets. Getting out the picture, Jiraiya's face fell. He flipped it over to show Naruto.

"Sakura!" Naruto said. The picture showed her, tied up and obviously abused. She had large bruises on her face. Anger flared up in Naruto like he had rarely felt.

"Orochimaru said he would kill her if you didn't come," the Sound Ninja said. With a vicious punch, Naruto silenced the man. A hot rage burned through him.

"That wasn't necessary," Jiraiya said.

"Yes it was," Hinata answered for Naruto, calming him down a little. "He deserved it."

"What's the plan now?" Lee asked, also obviously perturbed by the photograph.

"I'm going." Naruto answered without a pause for thought. "I'm going to save her and make them pay. I may not be as powerful as Orochimaru by myself, but I have a certain advantage. I also have to pay back Sasuke."

"Now wait a minute! This is an obvious trap!" Jiraiya said.

"I don't abandon my friends. I don't know what she was doing there, but I have to save her. You guys don't have to come," Naruto said.

"I'm in!" Lee shouted. "Sakura-san needs saving, and the Green Beast of Konoha cannot simply allow her to suffer!"

"I'm going. A ninja doesn't abandon her teammates, even if they are marching into a trap," Hinata said. Jiraiya sighed, defeated.

"Well I can't let you kids go alone. If Orochimaru is really there, you will need me anyway," Jiraiya said, resigned to the fact that he couldn't convince them not to go. "However, we are going to get some sleep right now. Lets tie these guys up and turn them in. We can leave early in the morning."

* * *

Author's Notes: Wow, I bet you thought it would never come out! Sorry about the super long wait for this chapter, and sorry it is kinda short. Things have been crazy with me since the birthday. Sometimes real life gets in the way of our hobbies :( Anyway, chances are chapter 8 or 9 will be the last chapter for this story, depending on how long the final fight and epilogue end up being. The wait for chapter 8 won't be as long I hope.

So here is hoping everyone enjoyed chapter 7, and now we are in the final stretch of my very first fan fic!


	8. Chapter 8: Revelations

Time Apart Chapter 8

--

Hinata couldn't sleep. This was usual when she had a big mission the next day. It just so happened that tomorrow she would probably die. She knew that Orochimaru was the man who killed the Third Hokage. She also knew that Uchiha Sasuke was the number one ninja in her class. With both of them at the same time, it was likely that someone like her wasn't going to make it. She could help though, and if she ended up dead while doing it, then so be it. A ninja's life wasn't always easy.

She rolled over on her pallet and opened her eyes. Most people would take several minutes to adjust, but her clan's eyes did more than just the Byakagun. In less than half a second she could see very clearly. Clearly enough to see that Naruto wasn't there. Quietly, she got to her feet. Kit was also gone, or at least she couldn't find the small animal.

_I wonder if he left without us? s_he thought. _He is going to need our help. He doesn't stand a chance alone._ Moving silently, she opened the door and walked out into the hall. She could hear voices drifting in from outside the building. One was Naruto's, but she didn't recognize the other. Walking quickly down the stairs, she strained her ears to listen.

"... forget about that girl, she is nothing but trouble," the unidentified voice said. She could barely make out what was being said.

"I know that! I got over her years ago," Naruto replied. Hinata stopped when she decided she was close enough to hear, but hopefully not detectable.

"You should look into that Hinata girl. She would bear you some powerful pups," the other voice said. Hinata blushed deeply.

_Who is he talking to? Why are they talking about me?_ she wondered. She was interested in what Naruto was going to say back. A part of her felt bad for eavesdropping, but another part of her was desperate to hear what was said next.

"I'm not interested in 'pups' just yet. She is a nice girl though, and pretty," Naruto said. Hinata squeaked with glee. That was enough for her. She decided she should interrupt the conversation, and hope that they didn't think she had heard the whole thing. Making loud noises as she finished coming down the stairs, she walked out the door.

Faking a yawn, she said, "There you are! I thought you had left without us." She had been working hard the last week at talking to Naruto without stuttering. Naruto looked up at her and flashed a smile. It was greeted with a look of confusion on Hinata's face, as she searched for the other person she had heard talking.

"How much did you hear?" he asked.

"No-nothing!" Hinata denied fervently. _Stupid, stupid Hinata. He is a Jounin. Of course he knew you could hear him! Why did he keep talking then? What gave it away?_

"Come on. I'm not mad. You're looking for whoever I was talking to just now. How long were you listening?" he asked, with an edge in his voice.

"Not long. Just what you said about me," she finally got out, face red.

"Good," he said with a sigh.

_He seems relieved! I would think that would be what he wouldn't have wanted me to hear,_ she thought. _What were they talking about before?_

Sitting down beside him, she worked up her courage. "Who were you talking to?"

Naruto seemed to think for a second before answering, as if deciding whether or not to tell her. Kit made the decision for him however, as he surprised her by opening his mouth and talking.

"Me," the fox said.

Hinata went through a quick series of emotions. The first was the most obvious one, which was shock. Secondly, she was angry at not being told that Kit could speak. Next was the state she usually found herself in, embarrassment. She mentally tracked back over everything she had ever said to the fox. "You understand everything I say?" she asked.

"Of course," Kit replied. "I can't believe you humans are so slow to put this together. You knew I was sealed with Naruto, and yet it didn't even cross your mind that the fox following him around could be me."

"Kyuubi?" she asked. _Of course it is. Naruto must have somehow found a way to let him roam around freely. _Aloud she said, "For a demon you aren't as terrible as the village lets on."

"Don't let him fool you. If he was in his normal body you wouldn't have even had a chance to talk to him. He probably would have killed you. Since he is mostly powerless, he has mellowed out a little," Naruto said. "Still, he is a real smart ass sometimes."

Hinata giggled and gave Kit a little pat on the head. "What a cute little demon he is though."

Kit growled and trotted inside the building mumbling something about being all powerful again someday. Hinata laughed and leaned back on her hands. She was in a great mood, and then she remembered her situation. She was sitting outside, alone, with Naruto. All of a sudden there were butterflies in her stomach.

"I'm worried about this rescue mission tomorrow," Naruto said sadly. She could tell that he was really bothered by something. Usually, Naruto was happy and confident, but right now she could see lines of worry etched on his face.

"I'm scared before all my missions," she said, trying to be helpful. "They always get done though."

"Hinata, this isn't just a mission. This is personal, and it's a trap. I didn't want to get you involved in it. I don't think I would ever forgive myself if you or Lee died," Naruto said. She knew that it was going to be tough, but to hear Naruto say it made her worry even more.

"Why didn't you leave without us tonight? I thought you had when I woke up and you were gone," she asked. Naruto actually chuckled at that.

"I thought about it. I almost did actually, but Kit talked me out of it," he said. "He said that we would need you guys, and that we couldn't do it by ourselves. He is right of course. Alone, I would just get myself killed, and Kit is very adamant about me not doing that."

Hinata sighed, looking up toward the stars. "I don't want you do die either. I just got you back." Naruto laughed out loud at that. Finally noticing one of her slip ups, she was mortified when he prodded her.

"_You_ just got me back?" he asked, mirth in his tone. She turned her face from his quickly, to hide the blush that confirmed his statement. Building up her courage, she decided that now was a good time to tell him.

"I - I need to tell you something," she said weakly. _You need to get it out there Hinata. He needs to know before you get yourself killed tomorrow._

She turned to look at him, and, thankfully, she could see that he was blushing also. _Never occurred to me he could be shy about this kind of thing, _she thought. _He is usually so sure of himself._

Unfortunately, before she could finish declaring her secret love for him, Jiraiya burst out of the doors loudly. "Whats going on out here?"

The two younger ninjas turned their heads quickly to see a large, looming, drunken Jiraiya. "Ero-sennin! What are you doing drinking tonight? We need you tomorrow!" Naruto howled.

"I'll be fine in the mornin'!" the legendary ninja said in a slur. "I am an expert at this kind of thing!"

Looking back at Hinata, Naruto said, "We can talk again tomorrow after the mission. You should get some sleep." The young ninja grabbed Jiraiya around the arms and led him up the stairs to his room, leaving Hinata sitting alone on the porch. Still nervous about the mission, but now more nervous about what would happen afterwards.

--

Naruto got up earlier than usual. It was an important day. He went downstairs to grab some breakfast, and then went outside before sunrise for his warm-ups. Settling for some pre-practiced forms and some push-ups, he was done in no time. He didn't want to push things today, since he would probably need every ounce of chakra that he could muster. After getting some breakfast, he went to Jiraiya's door.

Wanting to get some revenge on his former sensei for his interruption last night, Naruto didn't knock. Bursting into the room, Naruto performed a series of quick seals and let loose a minor water Jutsu on Jiraiya's face, bringing him to alertness instantly.

"What was that for!" Jiraiya shouted.

"Bad timing, and drinking before the mission," Naruto answered honestly.

"Well I wasn't going to, but there were these ladies!" Jiraiya started. Naruto tuned him out, as the older ninja described the previous night of debauchery. At least he wasn't hung over. After waking the rest of the team, Naruto went back to the front desk to pay.

It wasn't long before the group was all set up and ready to go. They left right after sunrise.

--

Naruto didn't even break stride when the town came into view. His plan, if you could call it that, was to rush into the town, disabling as many Sound ninjas as they could before they could spring their trap. Hopefully, that way they could take the odds down to just the powerful ninjas. With his team fanning out, they all headed for the center of town from different directions. Creating several shadow clones, Naruto was a force to be reckoned with.

Screaming into town at high velocity, he didn't even pause to spar with any lower level Sound ninjas. He created two clones for each enemy he encountered, and then moved on, trusting his clones to take care of things. From the retreating sounds of pain the Sound ninjas were making, he assumed that things were going well.

Jiraiya was being equally efficient. While he wasn't creating Shadow Clones, he was dispatching each challenger with one or two simple moves. He was usually a showy ninja, but today he didn't have time to waste on peons. One of the few times people could count on him to be serious was when Orochimaru was involved.

Lee and Hinata worked together for the most part, heading into town from a third direction. Together, they weaved in and out of the sound ninjas, encountering few that really posed much of a challenge. It wasn't too long before they encountered two Sound ninjas that weren't such pushovers. The two struggled as the Sound ninjas pushed them to their limits, and as the battle went on, they were separated.

Naruto was the first to arrive in the center of town, followed closely by Jiraiya.

--

Sakura could hear the sounds of fighting in the distance. She knew that meant that Naruto had come to save her. She laughed to herself, and it hurt. Being trained as a medical ninja, she could tell that most of her ribs were broken, and there was probably internal bleeding. Her face would probably never heal up perfectly.

She had been so stupid. _Naruto should have just left me to die here. I deserved it._ Tears slid out from her eyes, burning as the salt passed over the cuts and wounds on her face. The day before, she had spent most of her time trying to send chakra to repair some of the wounds, but whenever they started to look better, Kabuto would cut her again.

Below her sat the body that used to belong to Sasuke. In afterthought, she should have realized that there was a reason Orochimaru had been so interested in him. Sure, he was a talented ninja with a fantastic bloodline, that was one of the reasons she had initially been so attracted to him, but Orochimaru didn't want a subordinate who might one day be more powerful than himself.

She hadn't wanted to believe what he had told her at first, but Kabuto had gone to great lengths to describe the body possession technique. It was this kind of torture that he enjoyed, breaking her spirit as well as her body.

"Here he comes," Orochimaru said. "Who should I greet him as?" he asked with a chuckle.

Kabuto laughed. "Jiraiya is with him. Better be yourself for now. It will be nice to see the shock on the old ninja's face when you activate your Sharingan."

Orochimaru stood up and sheathed himself with the genjutsu that allowed him to look like his original body. Walking over to Sakura he said, "I would love to let you watch as I kill these people, but your usefulness is almost at an end." She took in a sharp breath of fear as he raised his hand. "No, I won't kill you yet, but I can't let you ruin my surprises for me," he said, smiling. When the fist came down, there was blackness.

--

Jiraiya rounded the corner in time to see Orochimaru knock Sakura out cold. A quick glance around told him that Naruto and Kit were the only ones who had arrived.

"I will take Orochimaru. You get Kabuto off my back," Jiraiya said. With a grim nod, Naruto caught Kabuto's eyes with his own. The two circled off, as Jiraiya calmly walked towards his former comrade.

"It's been a long time, Jiraiya," Orochimaru said sweetly.

"I'm not here to talk, snake. I'm here to kill you, once and for all," Jiraiya answered. "Last time I was drugged. This time I will finish things."

Orochimaru laughed, "Last time I didn't have any arms. What makes you think that you stand a chance? You were never my equal." In a flash, Orochimaru became a blur of action. One moment he was in front of Jiraiya, the next moment he was behind him with a Kunai planted into his back. Orochimaru laughed. "Come on now, don't play with me."

The form of Jiraiya, that Orochimaru had stabbed, melted into a dark swampy substance. Gathering at his feet, the thick liquid began to swallow him up.

"Let's both be serious, shall we," Jiraiya said, stepping out from where he had escaped Orochimaru's first move. Making some hand seals, Orochimaru spat several balls of fire from his mouth at high speed. Jiraiya had to move quickly to get out of the way, and the swamp jutsu he had been using to keep Orochimaru in place was released. Moving forward, Orochimaru began a savage attack with straight Taijutsu.

"You were always slower than me," Orochimaru said, pummeling Jiraiya with blows.

"Well, times change," Jiraiya said, through gritted teeth. Grabbing one of the punches that Orochimaru had thrown, the older man rolled onto his back and threw him into the nearest building. With a crash, the structure came toppling down upon the Snake Sennin. Jiraiya stood up, panting from the physical activity.

Laughter erupted from the ruins, as Orochimaru stood up and dusted himself off. Walking towards the other Sennin, Orochimaru spoke. "I'm tired of this game. I want the Kyuubi vessel. It's going to give me great pleasure to extinguish you."

"Not likely," Jiraiya said. He went into a long series of hand seals. Slamming his palms on the ground, Jiraiya watched as his chakra spread across the intervening space in the blink of an eye. Orochimaru fell to his knees.

"Wha-what is this?" Orochimaru asked in a panic. "I can't move."

"I'm going to finish this!" Jiraiya said. Lifting one hand off the ground he made a one handed seal. "Swamp of a Hundred Deaths!"

Slowly, the ground beneath Orochimaru melted into a swamp, drawing him in. Without being able to move, the pale faced man was unable to escape. The swamp started to boil, and Jiraiya smiled in satisfaction as he saw the rays of heat distort his vision. Orochimaru screamed.

After his opponent had sunk all the way into the ground, Jiraiya changed the hand seal, and the swamp glassed over. Standing up, he walked over to the area where his opponent had been. Looking down, he was disappointed to note that in the place where Orochimaru should be, there was a pile of mud.

Turning around, he saw Orochimaru standing in roughly the same spot he had been earlier. Something was different though. Instead of his normal yellow eyes, they were blood red. Exhaling sharply, Jiraiya realized what he was up against. "Sharingan!" he whispered. Trying to move quickly, he was surprised to discover that he couldn't move.

"You see Jiraiya, I have finally done it. I have found the perfect body," Orochimaru said, moving one hand off of the ground and making the same seal Jiraiya had made moments ago.

"You bastard!" Jiraiya shouted.

"You're too old. What did you call this technique, Swamp of a Hundred Deaths?" Jiraiya felt pain as the ground below him transformed into a boiling pit of sludge. He lost consciousness as the pain neared his knees

--

"We meet again Naruto-kun. You're older." Kabuto said, taunting Naruto. He wasn't in the mood.

"I hope you don't mind, but I will have to insist that you refer to me as Naruto-sama. It would be impolite to do anything else." Naruto reached into his pouch, getting out several Kunai. Testing his opponent out, he threw them.

Kabuto didn't seem to mind the incoming projectiles. Covering his hands in blue chakra, Kabuto cut the Kunai into pieces as they came in. Naruto scoffed.

"What a waste of Chakra."

"Completely unlike your Kage Bunshin that are running all over town keeping our Gennins occupied?" Kabuto responded.

"The difference is that I have Chakra to spare, and you don't." Naruto sped into close combat quickly, throwing a series of kicks and punches designed to test Kabuto's style of defense. "I beat you when I was Genin, don't think I can't destroy you now!"

Laughing, Kabuto allowed himself to be driven back by Naruto. After a few blocks, he grabbed a Kunai out of his pouch and threw it towards Sakura. Naruto jumped back and quickly placed his hands together in a seal. Creating a few clones in front of the projectile, he was able to slow it down enough that it missed it's target.

"Why save her? She got herself into this mess. You know she walked right in here to warn her precious Sasuke-kun, right?" Kabuto said. Naruto had suspected that it had been something like that, but it still stung to hear it. He decided to concentrate on something else.

"Where is Sasuke anyway? Shouldn't he be bursting at the seams to fight me, or did you send him to fight Lee and Hinata?" Naruto asked as he launched into another series of attacks.

"Oh heavens no. Your friend Sasuke is right over there," Kabuto said laughing. Truly puzzled now, Naruto followed the other man's finger to see Jiraiya struggling to fight Orochimaru. "You should be paying attention!" Kabuto said as he kicked Naruto viciously in the gut. Falling back, Naruto broke into a roll. As he regained his feet, he made some shadow clones and together they launched into a combined assault.

Every time Kabuto scored a hit on one of the clones, Naruto switched places with them, blocking the attack. Confused as to which was the real Naruto, Kabuto retreated. Once again, blue chakra covered Kabuto's hands and he launched into a series of counter attacks. Realizing that the chakra meant scalpels, Naruto had no choice but to let his clones take the hits.

Pouring chakra into his body, Naruto felt the familiar tinge of the Kyuubi power. Time seemed to slow down as he prepared to go all out against Kabuto. It had been a long time since he had fought someone this good. Kakashi had been caught off guard by Naruto's improvement, but, no matter what went on, Kabuto seemed to be able to cope with the attacks. Naruto even thought that he might be holding back.

Blurring forward, Naruto stepped under one of Kabuto's kicks. Flying upward into an attack of his own, Naruto knocked the other ninja to the ground. Naruto snarled as he flew towards Kabuto and slammed his palm into the other man's chest. Kabuto flew back and rolled violently on the ground, kicking up dust.

Kabuto stopped his roll by hooking his chakra scalpels into the ground. Glancing over at the battle between his master and Jiraiya, Kabuto was pleased to see Jiraiya frozen by his own Jutsu.

"My job is done here. Sasuke would like to play with you now!" Kabuto said, flinging several Kunai at Sakura again. Naruto launched himself between them, managing to grab or kick several out of the way with some elaborate acrobatics. He was mortified that one had gotten past him, and started making some hand seals. He stopped midway when Kit came flying through the air, catching the Kunai.

"Don't thank me, I just didn't want you all depressed for the rest of the fight," Kit said as he spat the Kunai out. "I would rather have let her die myself."

Turning back around, Naruto noticed that Kabuto had fled. He heard Jiraiya scream.

--

Authors Note: Whew, bet you didn't expect chapter eight so fast. As it turns out this climax is going to have to be broken into more than one chapter. Go figure.

You may look forward to Chapter 9 as I leave you with the worst cliff hanger ever. Consider this fast update my apology for taking so long with Chapter 7.


	9. Chapter 9: Showdown

Time Apart Chapter 9

* * *

Hinata couldn't remember the last time that she was pushed this hard during a mission. Her current opponent was no slouch. Being a Chuunin, she went on C class missions regularly, but never as a squad leader. She had all the skills, but she never accepted the lead position because she didn't have the confidence. This was no C class mission. With Orochimaru present somewhere in the city, this had turned into an S class mission.

Her opponent was probably a Jounin. She had been working with Rock Lee on the way into the city, dispatching Gennin and other Chunnin with relative ease. Orochimaru tended to have a large number of ninjas that weren't trained very well, or only had one or two tricks. She was wearing down at this point, and she had been separated from Lee a few minutes earlier.

A vicious punch to the stomach brought her back to reality, and sent her sprawling. This guy was huge. He easily stood head and shoulders above her. Standing up shakily, Hinata took a defensive stance, preparing herself for the next attack. Not disappointing her, the large sound Ninja ran straight at her like a rhino.

Just as the man was about to slam into his target, Hinata rolled quickly out of the way. Jumping up spryly behind him, she deftly grabbed several kunai from her pouch and sent them flying into the man. He roared for a moment, and, for that moment, Hinata thought she may have a chance to end the fight. Rushing forward towards the wounded man, she prepared to strike at his heart.

Sadly, the roar of pain turned into a laugh as he turned to face her. Realizing too late that the man was barely hurt at all by the Kunai embedded in his back, Hinata tried to abort her charge. The man was quick though, and grabbed her head within one of his huge hands. Lifting her off the ground, he began to squeeze.

Hinata squirmed under the pain, she felt like he was going to crush her skull. _He is going to kill me. I knew I was going to die on this mission,_ she thought to herself.

"I'm going to crush you like a melon, little girl," the Sound ninja taunted. He was right. Her vision started to swim as she struggled desperately to get free. Just as she was about to give up, Naruto flashed through her mind.

_You can't die here, _she chided herself. _You still have to tell Naruto how you feel._ She didn't have much time. She could feel her face about to give out. Swinging her body up, she wrapped herself around the man's arm. Planting her foot in his face, she used it to push herself into a spin.

While she had yet to master the Kaiten, she had been working on it. She was close to getting there, and could launch herself into an impressive spin. The part that still needed work was emitting chakra from all of her body. Thankfully, that part wasn't needed right now.

Spinning her body mass around quickly, while holding on to her opponents arm, resulted in a sickening snap. Screaming in pain, the man dropped her to the ground. At first, it was all she could do not to throw up as she gripped her head, letting the pain pass. Forcing herself to come back to her senses, she stood up uneasily.

He was in pretty bad shape as well. She decided that her spin must have been stronger than she thought. She caught glimpses of the bone sticking out of the man's arm where his elbow should have been. While he clutched it, she rushed into the attack.

Slamming her open palm into the man's chest, she used her chakra to strike at his heart. Not content to leave it at that, she launched herself into a flip, sailing over the man's head. Two taps to the back of the head were followed with a series of strikes down his spine, and into the back of his legs. When she was satisfied, she swept her feet under him, dropping him to the ground.

Hinata watched for a few more moments to make sure that his heart stopped beating. She limped away from the battle with a splitting headache, and headed for where she had last seen Lee. Once she met back up with him, they could see what they could do to help Naruto and Jiraiya.

* * *

Lee was worried about Hinata. It had been a few minutes since they had been separated, and his opponent was tough to handle. He had to assume hers was as well. Usually, Lee disabled his opponents with his speed and taijutsu skills, however this one was proving to be difficult. It wasn't that his opponent was that fantastic at taijutsu himself, it was simply his techniques. Lee couldn't get close.

Using Jutsu's, the man was sending out invisible waves of sound. The first one that hit Lee destroyed his balance completely, making him fall over in a fit of nausea. It had passed quickly, but the Sound ninja had time to swiftly cross the gap and attack with his knives. Lee regained his senses just in time to roll out of the way, but he had suffered a nasty cut along his side. The cut would heal, but now he was going to have to get a new green jumpsuit.

Since then, Lee had been moving quickly to avoid the sound blasts, but every time he tried to get close to his opponent to engage, he noticed a shimmering wave of something in front of him. Lee was guessing that it was a wall of sound. It would probably have the same effect as the blasts, and the Sound ninja would have ample opportunity to stab him to death at that range.

More than anything, right now Lee wished his had some sort of ranged attack. He cursed his lack of jutsu's, and then his lack of training with Kunai. When he returned to Konoha he was going to have to fix that. At least if he had something to throw at the man, he might be able to disable that jutsu in time to break through the wall. His only other option was to open the Heavenly Gates and go around, but he was unsure if the field was a bubble or not. If it was, then opening the Gates wasn't going to do him any good, and Tsunade had warned him about using that forbidden technique. After his surgery, she didn't know if his body could take the strain again.

Lee was confused when his vision started to blur. He knew that he hadn't been hit by another blast yet. Glancing down at the knife wound he had sustained earlier, he realized what was going on.

"Feeling weak yet?" the Sound ninja taunted.

_Damn, poison,_ he thought to himself. Dodging all these sound blasts was going to get difficult. _I don't think he cut me bad enough for his poison to kill me, but it will probably make me weak enough so he can finish me off. _Suddenly he had a brilliant idea. He was going to take care of this fight all in one move. He only had one shot at this, so he had to make it fly the first time.

Lee began his run towards his opponent. The Sound Ninja smiled, expecting Lee be hit by the barrier. However, right before reaching it, Lee leaped upwards. Sailing into a back flip, Lee bent backwards and undid the straps for the weights on his legs. The centrifugal force of the flip slung the weights off at an incredible speed. Lee landed in time to see the two weights slam into the unsuspecting ninja. A loud boom accompanied the huge clouds of dust as the weights slammed into the man.

Lee stepped forward to investigate. As planned, the field of sound was gone, so Lee at least knew that he had broken his opponent's Jutsu. Stepping into the clouds of dust, he expected to see the body of the Sound ninja. He didn't. Ducking quickly under the swish of a knife passing through air, Lee smiled to himself. This he could handle. Free of his weights, Lee moved faster than the eye could follow.

In a few moments, it was over. His Sound opponent was laying in a crumpled heap on the floor. Lee made an abortive effort to move, but found that the poison was taking a real effect now. He crawled over to the side of a building and had a seat, catching his breath. Thankfully, he heard Hinata's voice shouting his name.

"I'm over here," he said. Within moments, Hinata walked into view.

"Are you ok?" she asked. Standing up woozily, he walked over to her.

"Yeah, just a little hard to walk is all. Some kind of drug or poison," Lee said, putting his arm around Hinata's shoulder. Together, they headed towards the center of town.

* * *

Naruto hadn't ever moved this fast in his life. Summoning all the chakra he could bear to utilize without burning off his legs, he flew across the courtyard. He planted both of his feet into Orochimaru's back, sending him flying and stopping the Jutsu. Rushing to Jiraiya's side, Naruto surveyed the damage.

It wasn't good. From the knees down, Jiraiya's legs were bubbling from the burns. It would be a miracle if he would ever walk again. The sennin was unconscious, so Naruto quickly picked him up and moved him over where Sakura was tied up. Orochimaru was walking back towards them.

"I told him he was weak. He should have ran away," the Snake Sennin said.

"I won't forgive you Orochimaru," Naruto hissed. "Not for this, and not for turning Sasuke against us."

Orochimaru laughed heartily. Then he kept on laughing. "I didn't turn Sasuke against you! The boy was hungry for power. Besides, I wouldn't worry about it now." Wiping his hand across his face, Orochimaru dispelled the genjutsu, revealing his new body.

"Sasuke!" Naruto said.

"Well not really Sasuke. It is me after all. Is it disappointing that you won't be able to get revenge on Sasuke? I already killed him. This body is mine now, along with these beautiful eyes," Orochimaru said. Naruto watched in horror as he activated the Sharingan.

Burning with rage at having his friend stolen from him, and then having his revenge stolen, Naruto howled in anger. "He didn't deserve that. Your sick games end here, I'm going to take care of it."

"You are just a vessel. A shell for a greater power. When this body is spent, I will have yours next, and tap into that power. You are nothing, there is no way you can defeat me," Orochimaru laughed through Sasuke's mouth.

"I'm not alone," Naruto said, beckoning to Kit.

"What, you have an army of Konoha ninjas behind you?" Orochimaru said. "I doubt that."

"I don't need an army. I have a demon," Naruto answered. Crouching down, Kit jumped on his back. "Beast Transformation: Fox Demon" In a puff of smoke, Kit turned into a copy of Naruto. However where Naruto had blue eyes, Kit's were red. The whiskers were jagged and he had claws for nails.

"Ahhh," Kit said. "You are very trusting to give me this much Chakra Naruto."

"You still need me alive, and unless you want to work for him, I suggest you pull your weight," Naruto responded. With a feral smile, Kit leaped off of Naruto's back and took up a crouched position beside him.

"Even two of you won't be hard to defeat. I can see your every move before you make it," Orochimaru taunted.

"Then I will just have to make sure there are a lot of moves to see. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted. Soon the courtyard was filled with Narutos. Surrounding Orochimaru, they all began making the same hand seals.

One after the other, the Narutos sent balls of fire flying towards Orochimaru. Each strike altered the way the the Snake Sennin had to dodge, herding him towards Kit. When Orochimaru landed, Kit launched into his own assault.

Kit snarled as he danced in and out of Orochimaru's guard. Like a feral beast, his strikes were powerful and straightforward. In moments, several Narutos were there helping out. Wherever Kit wasn't, a Naruto would throw a strike.

Orochimaru was skilled and quick though. Each dodge became an attack of its own, as the man backed away, creating puffs of smoke from dispatched bunshin clones. Finally landing for a moment, he created several hand seals in the blink of an eye, slamming his palms into the ground.

"Earthquake Jutsu!" he said, causing the entire courtyard to shake. The earth seemed to open up and swallow many of the Naruto clones, leaving just a few. Naruto moved into his own attack, jumping from clone to clone as much as he could to keep them alive. Kit moved in as well, and together, the two pushed Orochimaru back.

One of the Naruto clones noticed as Hinata and Lee walked towards the courtyard. He broke off from the fight and ran to meet them.

"Its too dangerous here. This may get out of hand. I want you to take Jiraiya and Sakura and get out of here," the clone said.

"What about you?" Hinata asked, worried.

"If I win, then I will meet up with you back in Konoha," he said.

"Will you win?" Hinata asked. Naruto hesitated.

"I don't know."

"Then we aren't leaving. We won't desert you," she said.

"Hinata there isn't anything you can do here. Save as many lives as you can and get out," he said, and then returned to the fight.

* * *

Sakura squinted as she opened her eyes. There was pain, but she had gotten used to that. Looking out she saw Naruto fighting Orochimaru alone. She briefly wondered where Jiraiya was, but when she looked down at her feet she found out. _I caused this._

Suddenly the ropes keeping her bound to the log came loose, and she fell to the ground. Looking behind her she saw Hinata and Lee.

"Sakura-san, are you ok?" Lee asked. She nodded numbly. "Can you walk?"

"Not yet. I think some of my ribs are broken," Sakura said. She propped herself up. Closing her eyes, Sakura used some medical techniques to check on her wounds. "Give me a few minutes to patch myself up and I will have a look at Jiraiya-sama."

Hinata nodded. Lee was drugged, Sakura was wounded, and Jiraiya was in the worst shape. She was the only one fit to go into combat. "I'm going to help Naruto. You two stay here."

* * *

Orochimaru was on the attack now. Naruto had to cancel his Kage Bunshin clones, because he needed as much of his chakra as possible to keep up with Orochimaru. He had already taken several hits trying to keep the clones active by switching places with them, and now he was wearing down. _Even after all this time training, I'm still not up to his level. I need the Kyuubi's power like before. Kit's beast transformation is still only like a really good bunshin clone._

Kit had warned him in the Chakra Tear that when Naruto had freed him, the demon chakra would still be available for him, but it wouldn't be the same. Before they had split, when Naruto got really angry the Kyuubi would take partial control. Naruto just couldn't force all that chakra to act how he wanted it to. He wasn't a demon, he just got to borrow a fraction of its power.

Another hit sent him sprawling to the ground, and before he could get up, Orochimaru was on him. _This is it, I loose,_ he thought as Orochimaru's fist came down. Kit saved him though, by leaping on Orochimaru's back. Naruto rolled up, and watched as Orochimaru sent Kit flying. When he hit the wall, a puff of smoke transformed him back into his normal form.

"You can't beat me," Orochimaru stated. "I have 50 years of experience and the Sharingan. Why don't you use your demon? Or was that little fox him?" Orochimaru laughed when he read Naruto's expression. "How rich! You let him loose, and in the process cut your power. You don't deserve to be a demon vessel."

Naruto was puzzled when Orochimaru dodged out of the way of a flying Kunai. _Who?_ Naruto thought, before he saw Hinata in the distance.

"No! Hinata I told you to leave!" he shouted.

"This your girlfriend?" Orochimaru asked. "Perhaps I will let you watch me kill her before I finish this." Naruto watched in horror as Orochimaru opened his mouth and a long sword came out. "This blade is poisoned you know. She is going to die in pain." Orochimaru flew off the ground with incredible speed, headed right for Hinata.

It was one thing to use the replacement technique on an inanimate object. It was a little harder to use it to switch places with an exact copy of yourself. It was quite difficult to switch places with someone else entirely. Naruto didn't quite know how he managed it, but the intense pain of the sword sliding through his gut was his first clue that it had worked.

Blood sputtered out of Naruto's mouth as he felt the poison working into his system.

"You fool!" Orochimaru hissed. Naruto let out a short chuckle before he started to black out.

* * *

It took a moment for Hinata to figure out exactly what had happened. One second she was trying to move out of the way as Orochimaru came screaming towards her with a sword. The other moment she was standing where Naruto had been watching in horror as the attack that had been meant for her slid into his body. _What have I done,_ she thought.

"He needs me," she heard Kit say as he limped over to where she had fallen to her knees.

"What?" she said numbly. She turned to look at Kit, one of his paws raised up and bleeding. He had come over to her on three legs.

"I want you to kill me," he said. Hinata did a double take.

"I can't do that! What would that accomplish?" she said.

"I won't die. It will be painful, but it will send me back to my original host body. Then I can save Naruto's – or, well, our lives," the fox answered. She looked down at him.

"You like him don't you?" she said.

"Perhaps a little, but don't tell him that. It would give him a big head," Kit said. He raised his head up high, exposing his neck. Hinata got out a Kunai.

"There is no other way?" she asked.

"Nope," Kit said. Hinata closed her eyes as she put the knife through the cute little fox's neck. This day was something she would have nightmares about.

* * *

Naruto screamed, but nothing came out. He had been about to pass out, but the sudden overwhelming weight of the Kyuubi's presence had stopped that.

"**Did you miss me?"** the Kyuubi boomed in his mind. Naruto smiled grimly. **"You know what you have to do. Do it."**

Naruto looked up and stared into the eyes that had belonged to the man who used to be his best friend. "Orochimaru, you are going to regret what you've done," he said.

"You can barely move, it's over for you. Your friend over there is still going to die, all you have done is postpone it," Orochimaru said confidently. His confidence wained a little as Naruto lifted his hands. He made three slow hand seals.

"Kyuubi Seal: Partial Release"

* * *

Kabuto watched from a building as Sakura started using her medical techniques to work on herself and Jiraiya. He could probably go and kill them, but those weren't his orders. Those three were hardly worth bothering with anyway. He watched with fascination as Naruto used the replacement technique to take the blow for the Hyuuga girl.

When she killed the fox, Kabuto had a feeling he knew what was coming next. _Orochimaru won't be able to handle this, but Naruto is wounded. Perhaps it is time to make my play,_ he considered.

He waited, and watched.

* * *

Naruto surrendered control to the Kyuubi. He was glad he had, because, while he could still feel what was happening to his body, it was dulled. It hurt even still. He hoped that he had the strength to take his body back after this gamble. He hoped Kit would let him.

* * *

Orochimaru was stunned. Naruto had just been seconds away from passing out and dying. The poison on his blade was nothing to laugh at, and any normal person would already be dead. Instead, Naruto was howling. A twisted red chakra began to swirl around him, and, in a burst of energy, erupted from Naruto's body. The shockwave sent Orochimaru flying.

When he regained his senses, he could not explain what stood before him. The chakra had ripped Naruto's shirt and flak jacket to shreds, and the pieces fanned out from his waist where it had been tucked in. Naruto was crouched low and his muscles seemed to be moving as they grew larger. Naruto screamed again.

Nails and teeth grew into large fangs and claws. Wounds, including the sword wound, emitted steam as they healed in seconds. Naruto looked up and locked his feral yellow eyes with Orochimaru's sharingan. The voice that came out of his mouth wasn't Naruto's.

"**So you want to play with swords!"** Naruto boomed. Raking his claws across his chest, Naruto produced the blood necessary for his swords summoning. The cuts were healed before he was even finished with the hand seals.

"So you are the Kyuubi no Kitsune? What power!" Orochimaru said, more to himself than anything. He raised his sword and prepared for Naruto's attack.

In the blink of an eye, Naruto was gone. Even with the Sharingan, Orochimaru couldn't move fast enough to do anything but barely block the blade. He was getting pushed back by the unstoppable attacks. Naruto's style was unlike anything he had ever seen. He seemed to be a force of nature. Wherever the sword wasn't, a claw made of pure Chakra lashed out. Within seconds, Orochimaru was bleeding from several cuts.

There was no time to do any kind of Jutsus. At one point, Orochimaru tried a replacement Jutsu, only to watch in horror as Naruto didn't even finish his attack. Orochimaru was pulled from his new location by a tail of Chakra that burned his flesh as it touched him.

"**I am going to make you suffer!"** Naruto said. Pulling Orochimaru towards him with the tail, Naruto lashed out with the demon sword. Pouring chakra into it, he lengthened the blade and cut through Orochimaru's left hand like butter.

Orochimaru grunted in pain. "Kabuto! Get out here and help!" he yelled desperately. Naruto was on him still. Panting from exaustion and weakening by the second from loss of blood, he was powerless to resist Naruto. One by one, his limbs were removed. Kabuto never showed up. Naruto picked Orochimaru up by the neck.

"Naruto! Kit! Whoever is in there! Stop please!" Hinata screamed. "Look at yourself!"

* * *

"Kit, he's finished. We need to go back to normal," Naruto pleaded.

"**Why! Can't you feel our power!" **Kit said. He was obviously enjoying taking Orochimaru apart.

"Because you are tearing up my body! It wasn't built to handle this much chakra, your melting off the skin!" Naruto said. Kit obviously hadn't been paying attention to that.

Naruto tried taking back over by force. Kit struggled for a moment, but then started to recede. Naruto knew he was about to take the body back over when he felt the intense pain.

"**Still haven't taken care of the poison. It will take me awhile to heal all this damage,"** Kit said. Naruto opened his eyes to see the face that used to belong to Sasuke. Then he fainted.

* * *

Hinata watched as Naruto dropped Orochimaru and fell to the ground. She ran to help him. When she got close she almost gagged. His entire body was covered in horrible burns. As she looked closer, she watched as the worst ones closed themselves up. They didn't heal entirely though.

She jumped into a defensive stance when Kabuto landed next to his master's body. She placed herself between Naruto's body and the enemy ninja.

"Don't worry," Kabuto said. "I'm not here to hurt you." He grabbed Orochimaru's body and in moments he was gone.

Hinata looked up as Sakura limped over to the body, followed by Lee with Jiraiya on his back. "Is he going to be ok?" she asked. She was shocked when Hinata stood up and slapped her in the face.

"This is your fault! If he doesn't survive, you are going to pay!" Hinata said. Sakura could only stand there. She had never heard Hinata say anything like that. Nodding to herself numbly, she sat down next to Naruto and got to work.

"Hinata, calm down, it's going to take more than that to kill Naruto," Lee said, having a seat next to his body.

"I've never seen anything like this!" Sakura said. "The largest wounds are sealing themselves up before I can get to them!" Hinata and Lee exchanged glances. "What was that earlier? You two know something about Naruto that I don't!" she accused.

"If the large wounds are sealing themselves up, then work on the small ones. If Naruto wants to tell you when he wakes up, then he will." Lee said. Hinata just sat beside him and stared.

"Please be ok Naruto-kun. We have to finish our conversation."

* * *

Kabuto sat Orochimaru down on the table. The legendary ninja turned his head and stared blankly at him.

"Kabuto ..." he whispered, "I need a new body ... quickly."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible Orochimaru-sama. It is a miracle you lasted this long, thanks in part to my sealing up your wounds." Kabuto said, enjoying this little chat. He unrolled a bag of tools and took off his glasses.

"You ... wouldn't .." Orochimaru said.

"Ah, but I would. You won't mind of I borrow your eyes for a little while?" If Orochimaru had a voice to scream, he would have as the scalpel cut into the area around his eye. "We are going to do this one at a time."

* * *

Authors Note: Hoo Boy! Consider yourself climaxified. The next chapter should be the last, so stay tuned.

In other news, both Damewren and Kraken, my favorite Naruto authors, have been nominated for the Naruto Fan Fic awards at narutofic dot net. Check it out if you haven't already.

Also there is a pic of Naruto and Kit on my homepage that I drew (I'm not really an artist) and colored in photoshop. Check it out if you are brave.


	10. Chapter 10: Hero

Time Apart: Chapter 10

* * *

Sakura opened her eyes and let out a long sigh. She had been working on Naruto's wounds for hours now. It had been the strangest thing she had ever done. Every time she focused on a wound she thought was really serious, she would find that it was already sealing itself up. So, instead of working on the major injuries, she worked on all the smaller burns across his body. She had sent Hinata out earlier to get some gauze, and when she was nearing chakra depletion, she wrapped up the parts of his body that were still burned and sat back.

She and Hinata had gotten two rooms at the hotel in the town where Hinata said they had stayed before. When Jiraiya had regained consciousness, he had summoned Gamabunta and ridden back to Konoha with Lee. Tsunade would be able to do more for the legendary ninja's legs than Sakura could. If her guess was right, Tsunade would be here in a few days to nurse Naruto back to health, if he even needed it.

"How is he?" Hinata asked from the corner of the room. Despite the rancid smell of the poison sweating out of Naruto's body, the girl had never left his side.

"Honestly, I think he is going to be fine. I have never seen anything like his healing ability before in my life. Even without my help he would probably be fine in a week," she said. Standing up, she walked to the door. She paused for a second to look back at the Hyuuga girl. "You're in love with him aren't you?" she asked.

"Yes," Hinata said, without pausing to think. Sakura nodded sadly to herself. Hinata was a lot different from the shy little girl she remembered from the Chuunin exams.

"Tell him. Keep him close, and never let him go. I lost Sasuke, and I have nothing but regrets. I should have gone after him to begin with. Then all this wouldn't have happened," Sakura said. She leaned against the door for a moment, lost in thought. "Even if I had died, it would have been worth it." She left the room.

Walking across the hall to their sleeping quarters, Sakura took a shower and examined herself in the mirror. She would have a scar on her face from Kabuto's cuts for the rest of her life. Other than that, most of her injuries would be hidden. In the last four years she had become a very competent medical ninja, so she had managed to stop most of the scarring. Laying down in bed, she thought about what to do now.

* * *

Hinata had decided to take what Sakura said to heart. When Naruto woke up, she was going to tell him, and, whether he liked it or not, she was going to keep him close. She walked across the room to him. He was mostly covered in bandages, and the poison smelled pretty bad. She gathered up all of the towels that had been soaked with his sweat and carried them to the window. Ringing them out, she hung them up to dry.

It seemed like the poison had almost been completely removed from his system at this point. The smell was just lingering in the room. She was getting tired, but she didn't want to leave him alone in there. She sat down next to him, and began to doze off.

* * *

Naruto felt pressure on his chest. He also had a splitting headache and was really groggy. Additionally, upon opening his eyes, he found that one of them was covered in some kind of gauze. He tried to sit up, but discovered that he couldn't. Looking down, he found out why. Hinata had obviously fallen asleep, and at some point had rolled over to him.

"**Now we're talking. You've been out for days," **the Kyuubi boomed in his mind.

_There was the whole matter of being stabbed and having my flesh melted off by chakra overload,_ Naruto responded silently. He decided to lay still for a little while longer and enjoy his position.

"**You are going to be fine. I repaired all of the bad damage. That pink-haired twit took care of the rest. You won't even have any scars,"** the fox said. Naruto smiled to himself.

_Thanks for the help back there, _Naruto said in his mind. The Kyuubi was quiet for a moment.

"**It's not like I did it for you. I just didn't want to die,"** he said.

Naruto chuckled as he pushed himself up, waking Hinata. With her eyes barely open, she surveyed her situation. Naruto was expecting some strange typical Hinata response, like an apology for laying on him or something. Instead, she leaped forward into a hug, tears streaming down her face.

"Thank God you're alive! I was worried," she said, clutching him tightly.

"**What a great way to wake up. How lucky!"** the Kyuubi said. **"Glad I could be here for this one."**

"Hinata, you're crushing me," Naruto said. She released him quickly and stepped back.

"How do you feel?" She asked. He grabbed the gauze on his face, and began to unwrap it.

"Groggy, but otherwise ok. Kit said he healed all of the bad damage, and Sakura took care of the rest," Naruto said.

"Even when you were unconscious, he could hear what was happening?" she asked. Naruto nodded in affirmation. "He needs to quit spying. Did he tell you anything else?"

Naruto raised his eyebrows, "No, should he have?"

"**I could, but I was going to let her tell you herself,"** the Kyuubi said. Hinata took a deep breath.

"We didn't get to finish talking the other day, and I have something I want to tell you," she said. Naruto nodded. Unfortunately, Sakura opened the door and walked in.

"I heard voices," she said groggily, then she saw Naruto standing up, and finishing taking off the gauze. "NARUTO! You shouldn't be walking yet, you … you're … not wounded at all?" she finished looking at his shirtless body. He had no scars, save for the one that he had gotten when Sasuke had used the Chidori on him.

"Yeah, I suppose I heal up quick! Kit said you helped," he said.

"**Bad move kid, you must be groggier than I thought you were,"** the Kyuubi said in his mind. Naruto mentally kicked himself. Sakura was the only person who didn't know about Kit.

Sakura asked the obvious question, "How did you heal that fast? Why don't you have any scars?"

Naruto shrugged, "Bloodline ability?" he said, half asking if she was going to believe it. He wasn't that lucky.

"Kit was the name of your pet fox. He's dead. How could he tell you anything?" Sakura asked, finally noticing his slip up from before.

Naruto sighed. _Well I haven't got a choice, I am going to have to tell her,_ he thought to himself. "Sakura, you may want to sit down." She did. "You remember the Kyuubi attacked Konoha sixteen years ago?" She nodded. "He wasn't killed like they told you. The Fourth gave his life to seal the demon inside a baby. That was me." He measured Sakura's reaction. She had a quick mind, so he was guessing that she was going back over every time he had done something spectacular.

"The Kyuubi is alive, inside you?" she asked. She thought back to the battle between Naruto and Orochimaru. "You let him free to fight Orochimaru! That's what all that dangerous chakra was," she said.

"Yes. He has been repairing my body for me. I call him Kit, because up until that fight, his spirit had been transferred into the body of that fox," Naruto said.

Sakura sat there silently for a moment, replaying some of the conversations she had had with Naruto. She stood up after a moment and said, "I apologize. I've treated you badly, and I had no idea."

Naruto laughed at that. "You've treated me better than most of the village, so don't worry about it."

Sakura gave a weak smile. "I need some time to think, excuse me." She left the room.

Naruto turned to Hinata. "Help me walk to the bath house. I smell terrible," he said. Hinata smiled and stood up. Naruto put his arm around her shoulder and she helped him walk out the door and down the steps. "Let me take a bath and then we can go somewhere private and finish our conversation. Uninterrupted this time."

She nodded and walked him towards the male bathing house. After his assurances that he would be ok, and that he would only be in there for a few minutes, she waited outside. The minutes passed like hours as she became more and more nervous. She was startled at a tap on her shoulder. Turning around she saw that it was Sakura. Hinata noticed she had her pack, and wasn't wearing her headband.

"I'm leaving," Sakura said. Hinata looked on with a dull shock.

"They will label you as a missing nin," Hinata said. In a way she understood.

"I know, but I doubt they will come after me. I was never that good at being a ninja anyway, but I am pretty good at medicine. I'm tired of all this fighting and killing, so I am going to find a hospital somewhere, get a job, and be normal."

Hinata nodded. "I am taking your advice to heart," she said to Sakura. "Whether he likes it or not, he's going to have to put up with me." Sakura smiled.

"That's the spirit. Tell Naruto that I'm sorry, and I hope he understands," Sakura said as she turned to walk off. Hinata watched her leave. Almost as if by cue, as soon as she had turned the corner out of sight, Naruto stepped out of the bath house.

"That was refreshing," Naruto said, still a little wet from a sporadic towel-dry. Hinata smiled and walked over to him, placing herself underneath his shoulder. She walked him back to the hotel, and they went into the room Sakura had been staying in. It didn't smell in there.

Naruto was quick to notice Sakura's headband lying in the floor with a scratch through it. "So she left," he said sadly.

"It didn't have anything to do with her finding out about you," Hinata said. "She talked to me before she left. She is going to go practice medicine somewhere."

Naruto nodded and sat back against the wall. He picked up Sakura's headband and mused silently to himself. _Now I have both of their headbands. Team 7 is down to me now._

"**Quit your crying, lets get back to the business of getting me out of your mind. I'm tired of it already,"** the Kyuubi said.

"Um, about what I was saying earlier," Hinata said.

"Hold that thought," Naruto said struggling to his feat again. Hinata groaned in frustration. "We still have a listener," he said, tapping his head with his finger.

"Oh," Hinata said, understanding. "Kit."

"I'm going to summon him a body a little more befitting of a Demon Lord this time," Naruto said out loud.

"**Actually, about that," **the Kyuubi began, **"I was noticing with my last host, that just like being bound in you as a baby, being bound in him was allowing him to adjust to me properly. If you put me back in a kit, he may grow to be much bigger than a normal fox in a few years."**

Naruto chuckled. "Never mind, he says he wants to be in a baby fox."

Hinata smiled as Naruto bit his thumb and preformed the summoning jutsu. "Awww," she said when the fox appeared. "It's even cuter than the last one!" Her memory flashed back to her sliding the knife in to Kit's neck. She stopped smiling.

Naruto finished the ritual and Kit seemed to stretch out his limbs, getting used to his new body. "Good to be back on the outside!" he said.

"Welcome back," Hinata said. She paused for a minute and then pointed to the door. "Now get out."

Naruto chuckled as Kit walked to the slightly open door haughtily. "You two kids don't do anything _I_ wouldn't do," he said as he walked out the door. Hinata closed the door behind him.

"No more interruptions," Naruto said. "Lets finish our conversation now."

Finally faced with the prospect of actually telling him how she felt, Hinata's stomach turned against her. Steeling herself, she started, "Well, you see, since we were kids, I always …" there was a knock at the door.

"Naruto, are you in there?" It was Tsunade. Naruto had started to answer, when Hinata crossed the span of the room in a heartbeat, and, in the most surprising and daring moment of her life, she planted a kiss right on Naruto's mouth.

A moment passed in which they were both shocked at what she had done. Slowly, Naruto embraced her. After a few seconds, they came up for air. "That's what I wanted to say," she said.

"It was good to hear," Naruto said. Just then, the door crashed open.

"Just what in the hell is going… oh," Tsunade said. She covered her mouth with her hand. "I always knew you would eventually take after Jiraiya."

"HEY!" Naruto exploded. "I'm not a pervert, ok! Anyway, you got here fast."

"I rode Gamabunta back. I was in a hurry to come and heal you, although I can see you don't need me," she said. Kit trotted in, weaving between her legs. Naruto still hadn't removed his hand from around Hinata's waist.

"Finally! I thought you two would never get together!" the little fox exploded.

Tsunade looked down at him, "Since when did you become a match-maker!"

"I'm not, but after listening to her talk about him the whole mission, I was about tired of it," he responded. Hinata turned a bright shade of red. Naruto finally released her and walked over to Tsunade.

"Did you come alone?" he asked.

"Yeah, Gamabunta wouldn't let anyone else ride. He kept saying that he wasn't a taxi over and over. The only reason he let me ride him back was because it was to help you," she said. Naruto handed her Sakura's headband.

Tsunade looked at it for a moment. "Where did she go?"

"She went to lead a normal life somewhere. She said she was going to find work as a doctor," Hinata said.

Tsunade seemed to think for a moment. "Normally, she would have to be declared a missing nin. However, you two saw her ask me permission to resign, and I accepted. After you have had some time to rest in Konoha, perhaps your new Team could locate her when Konoha gets caught back up on our missions and let her know."

Naruto smiled. "What team is that?"

Tsunade smiled back, "Judging from your success with this mission, and considering you killed an S class criminal, I am going to make you the jounin sensei of your own four man team. It's going to require juggling some of the other teams around, but Hinata, Lee, and Kit will be the members."

Naruto laughed, "Kit is going to be a Konoha ninja?"

"I actually can't think of a more fitting punishment. I can instate him as a top secret Genin. We can even get him a cute little headband to wear," Tsunade said.

Kit surprised everyone with his next comment. "I always wanted one of those." When they all stared at him, he felt the need to defend his statement. "What? I'm serious! I think they're neat."

"Wow," Naruto said. He took Hinata's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Let's get going then. I've got to take this lady out on a date when we get back."

* * *

After transferring the first eye, Kabuto had discovered why Kakashi kept it hidden all the time. He couldn't turn it off. That made transferring the second eye more difficult, so he decided to keep it frozen instead. Placing an eye patch over his sharingan, Kabuto put the second in a jar and froze it with an ice jutsu. In case he switch bodies at some point, he would still be able to make use of the saved eye.

He looked down at Orochimaru's mangled body. He briefly considered burying his former master, but, in the end, he decided he didn't really like him that much anyway. Taking the Snake scroll from the dead man's pouch, Kabuto signed it in blood. He would practice his summoning later.

Shouldering his pack, Kabuto headed back to the Sound village. It was time to introduce them to their new leader.

* * *

It took a little over a week to walk back to Konoha. The travel had been slow at first, but, as the days went by, Naruto continued to gain more of his strength back. The last day had been spent running. When they reached the gates, Naruto was shocked to see a large banner. It read, "Welcome Back Naruto!"

"I sent word on when to expect us last night while you slept," Tsunade said. Naruto nodded numbly. As the group walked into town, there was cheering. This was definitely something Naruto had never experienced before.

Posters hung out of the sides of windows, proclaiming Naruto as a hero. News had apparently spread that he had killed Orochimaru. Looking around in wonder, Naruto saw Hinata smiling.

"About time everyone else recognized what an amazing ninja you are," she said.

"_I'm_ the one who killed him," Kit grumbled, but even he could see if wouldn't be a great idea to tell everyone that. Tsunade walked with them all the way through the crowds to her office. Naruto noticed that, along the way, there were still some people standing in the back giving him dirty looks. He sighed. It wasn't going to matter what he did, there were some people that would never accept him.

Tsunade turned around to face the crowd when they reached her office. She beckoned off to one side, and Rock Lee stepped out. He ran over to join Naruto and Hinata. Tsunade raised her hands to quiet the crowd and began to speak.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, these three ninjas went beyond the call of duty to fight an S class criminal. Even when the great Jiraiya was injured, they did not retreat, and our very own Uzumaki Naruto defeated our most hated missing nin, Orochimaru," she paused for the cheers. "The newly elected council and I were debating on what to give him as a suitable reward for such bravery. We couldn't come up with anything, so we are going to ask him."

Naruto pointed to himself and silently worded, "Me?" Tsunade shook her head yes, and called him up to speak. Naruto gazed out at the crowd, and was relieved to see that most of them weren't using the customary glare they usually reserved for him. "I couldn't ask for a better reward that what I see before me. Thank you," he said. He had to stop speaking. It had been a long time since Naruto had actually shed tears. He had taught himself at an early age to avoid them.

Today though, he cried for a reason that he had never cried for before. He had no defense against it. He waved one last time and then retreated into the building. He could hear Tsunade still talking to the crowd, and he walked over to the window. He heard the door open and close again, and Hinata walked over to him with Kit scurrying behind her.

She reached up and wiped one of the tears off of his face. "I'm happy for you," she said. "They can finally see you for what you are, a hero."

"Oh please!" Kit said. "_I_ killed him."

Naruto laughed. "You hungry?"

"Yes," Hinata said. Naruto grabbed her hand and looked down at Kit.

"Give our report for us. See you later!" he said. With that, he flew out the window with Hinata.

* * *

Later that night, Tsunade was sitting back, sharing a bottle of sake with Jiraiya and Shizune. Jiraiya could walk just fine, but it was very doubtful that he was going to be nearly as fast or effective as he used to be. He was taking it pretty well, all things considered.

"Now, I can finally concentrate on writing my books!" he said. "Plus, the ladies love battle scars."

Tsunade and Shizune rolled their eyes. "You know what?" Tsunade asked.

"What's that," Shizune replied, gulping down another drink.

"The thing that pleases me most of all about this whole thing, is that the Fourth finally got one of his wishes. The people see Naruto as a hero now," she said. Jiraiya nodded.

"There will always be a few that resent him, though," he said.

"I don't think that will cause too much of a problem."

* * *

Hiashi watched out the window as the demon boy escorted his daughter back to the compound. He was furious when they kissed his daughter directly had not worked before. He was going to have to think of some other way to keep her away from the demon. _I'll be damned if a daughter of mind consorts with that filth,_ he thought.

He was startled when he turned around and there was a fox sitting in the window, watching him. He was more startled when the fox spoke.

"Those two are under my protection," the fox said. Hiashi fell back into a fighting stance.

"Kyuubi! I knew you were in league with that boy. I will end this now!"

"HA!" the fox laughed. "Don't think that you have the power to kill me yourself. Your strongest warrior, the Fourth Hokage, couldn't do it, and you are a far cry from him." Hiashi didn't move. "Think on this, I got in here without any of your guards noticing. If you cause any problems for those two, I won't be here to talk next time. It would be child's play to kill you and blame it on the Cloud." Then in a puff of smoke, he was gone.

* * *

"You think he bought it?" Naruto asked when Kit rounded the corner.

"He looked pretty scared to me. If he does try something, he will know I was bluffing," Kit said.

"He won't," Naruto said. After a light pause, "All the same though, we should work on some more ways for me to send your own Chakra through the link into your body."

"Yes," Kit said. "I have been thinking of some new things we could try. We are in a unique position to come up with some great new techniques." The two walked through the streets in silence then, hoping no one heard Kit speaking out loud.

_I wonder what our next mission is going to be._

_

* * *

_

**Authors Note:**Well everyone that's it. I want to thank everyone for their kind reviews, and I hope you all enjoyed it. I have some vague ideas for some stories that happen after this, so there is a very distinct chance for a sequel. I debated whether or not to go ahead and just tack the sequel on to the end of this and just consider it one big story.

Since this was definitely one story arc however, I think if I do end up writing a sequel it will get its own story. Right now though, I need a break from all this writing to fully enjoy things like Age of Empires III, F.E.A.R., and Civilization IV. Once again, thanks to you all for reading my story, and thanks to my wife for editing it.


	11. Preview: Time Away

Time Away Chapter 1: Assignment

**This is the sequel to Time Apart, so you can find the full text of this story in it's own entry on Just search for Time Away or go to my members page to get there. Please do not review here, but at the full story text. This is just a preview for the people who had my first story favourated. Thanks.**

--

Hinata flew through the trees as fast as her legs could propel her. She knew exactly where all three of her pursuers were, thanks to the power of her Byakagun, but it wasn't much comfort. If she couldn't see them, then she could at least fool herself into believing she was going to escape. Sadly, that didn't seem to be the case.

The tree branch that had been her spring board a mere moment ago was quickly filled with shurikens. She was getting used to the faint whistle as the objects flew through the air, mere inches from her face, never hitting their mark. She could thank the Byakagun for that as well. Landing on another branch, she decided to try and make her stand. Right before her next jump, Hinata released a swift burst of chakra from her feet, cutting the branch deeply. Upon her next landing, she reached into her pouch to grab a kunai. Swiftly turning around, Hinata caught the vision of one of her pursuers crashing to the forest floor. She used the Kunai to block the incoming shurikens and got ready for a close quarters battle.

She wasn't disappointed. Within seconds, they were on her, all aggression. It took all she had just to block their attacks, let alone try and fight back realistically. She was the Hyuuga clan heiress. She should not be beaten in taijutsu by just any ordinary ninja. As she was pushed back to a thinner part of the tree she fought on, she reflected that her opponents were not ordinary ninjas. Hinata let a small grunt of pain slip out as she blocked a particularly savage blow with her arms. As the next one came in from the other direction, she threw herself over the side while using her chakra to stick her feet to the tree. As a result, her feet were glued to the bottom of the branch, while her body continued to swing around from the inertia of the dodge.

Luckily, this caught her opponent off guard, and she was able to slide her kunai through the back of both of his feet. He disappeared into a puff of smoke, while Hinata quickly placed an exploding tag on the bottom of the branch. Releasing her chakra, she sailed toward the ground in a graceful flip. The tag exploded as soon as she landed. Wasting no time, she was on the run again from her pursuer, straining her body to its limits. With her target in sight, she didn't have time to wonder why her Byakagun wasn't picking up her final pursuer. The answer waited for her within arms reach of the target.

With a rumble, the earth in front of her opened up, and within seconds Hinata was pinned to the ground, with the feel of cold steel on her neck.

"Dammit!" she cursed, "I almost made it."

"How many times have I told you, never forget to check underground for possible attackers?" Naruto chided, putting his Kunai back in his pouch, and rolling off of Hinata.

"I know, I'm sorry," was the girl's reply, "I was giddy because I got so close this time." Naruto extended his hand to help her up out of the dirt. She grabbed it happily, and, once standing, didn't let it go.

"You have definitely improved in the past year. I'm glad that I was quick enough to use a replacement technique with my clone to get out of the way from that upside down flying Hinata foot slash of doom. Otherwise, I wouldn't be walking for a week!" Naruto said as they walked back towards the village. "I don't think you or Lee will have any problems with the Jounin exam this year."

"I hope you are right," she said, squeezing his hand. In the past year together, Hinata had managed to break away slightly from her shyness in regards to Naruto. She felt comfortable with him, and that helped a lot.

"I will walk you back to the Hyuuga mansion, then I have got to go to a meeting with Tsunade," he said.

"Another mission?" she asked. Their particular team had been assigned to more missions that most, due to their extraordinary success rate. Having killed Orochimaru, Naruto was regarded by most of the city as a hero now. Even though his team consisted of two chuunin and an irate demon bound in the body of a tiny fox, they always returned successful and usually unhurt.

"Probably," he answered. They walked in silence for a little while, enjoying the morning. When they reached the Hyuuga clan gates, Naruto stopped. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and then said, "I will see you tonight at your birthday celebration. I've been working with Kit on a present for you that I hope you will really enjoy."

Hinata smiled, her curiosity sufficiently piqued, and walked into the house. She shouted back, "See you tonight!" as she entered the gates.

--

Tsunade sighed as she waited for Naruto to show up. He was usually punctual, but she noticed he was almost always late for an early morning meeting. She had finally asked Rock Lee about it, and he had told her that Naruto makes everyone get up at four in the morning to do morning warm ups. Then, he alternates running one of them through a training course that he concocted. She would complain, if both Hinata and Lee hadn't shown amazing improvement over the last year.

She was pleased when she heard the expected knock on the door. "Come in," she said. She was not surprised to see Naruto walk through the door, his hair wet from a recent shower. Kit trailed at his heels, as usual.

"Good morning," he said, crossing the room and sitting down. Kit hopped up into the chair next to him.

"You are late," Tsunade growled.

"Sorry about that, training ran a little late this morning," he said. "I didn't want to show up for a meeting filthy." He flashed a smile. "What's going on, another mission?" he asked.

The answer came from across the room as a gruff male voice said, "This is your finest assassin? How pathetic."

Naruto wasted no time with his rebuttal. "I am _not_ an assassin, and if you doubt my skills then I can demonstrate them."

"Gentlemen!" Tsunade said forcefully.

"Respectfully, I came with orders to purchase the skills of your best assassin. If this man is not him, then you have misunderstood my mission," the man said, stepping into full view. He was outfitted in full samurai war gear, his helmet placed under his arm.

"If the mission is as you reported it, any one of my Genin could accomplish it. A non-ninja target would be child's play for anyone in this village to take care of. You asked for the best person for the job, and this man and his team are it. You will take their services, or you will return to your master empty handed, do you understand _that?_" Tsunade asked.

"Forgive me for offending you," the man said, bowing slightly to Tsunade. He turned to face Naruto. "I am Kitano Harashi, and the Kitano family has need of your services."

Naruto returned the man's bow slowly, "I am Uzumaki Naruto, and this is my pet fox Kit," he said, and then turned to Tsunade. "What is this about? Why is my team up for an assassination mission, isn't that ANBU's job?"

"Kitano, if you would please leave us while we discuss the mission. My assistants can escort you to a place for you to stay tonight, before your mission leaves in the morning," Tsunade said. Kitano nodded and walked out the door.

Once the samurai was out of earshot, Kit let loose. "I am so _tired_ of being introduced as your pet fox. Am I not a member of your team? I understand that you can't introduce me as Lord Kyuubi, master demon, but, surely, you can come up with something a little more dignified than pet?"

"Shut up," Naruto and Tsunade said at the same time, dismissing his complaints. They were used to his indignant outbursts. When he realized that they weren't going to answer him, he settled down and got serious.

"Okay, fine, why are we going on an assassination mission a genin could accomplish? It is a waste of our talents," the fox said.

"I will decide what is a waste of your talents," Tsunade answered. "And it is precisely because of _your_ talents that you are going," she said, pointing at Kit.

"What does assassinating someone have to do with Kit?" Naruto asked.

"Well it isn't the assassination really, it's where it will take place. Harashi is from Swan country. Before you interrupt me to tell me you have never heard of it Naruto, the reason is because it is an island far off the coast. Being so well traveled in his youth, I was hoping that Kit might know a lot about it. Including being able to speak their language," Tsunade said.

Kit was quiet for a moment before answering. "If it is where I think it is, then yes, I should know quite a bit about it. The place I knew wasn't called Swan country though."

"Well, you will still have a better chance than anyone else we have. From what Harashi has told me, the Kitano family is the ruling family on the island. They follow a strict code of honor that doesn't include assassinations. However, a minor family has started a rebellion that is tearing the island apart. Lord Kitano has tried to call out the leader of this rebellion, but the other man refuses to meet him in combat, preferring instead to raid the villages. He wants us to track him down and kill him," she said, finishing the briefing.

"So you want us to go because Kit will know the land?" Naruto asked.

"Exactly, and, perhaps, the language as well. Kit's extensive knowledge will be more useful on this mission than even the most skilled assassin in Konoha." Tsunade said. "You leave in the morning. This will be classified as an A class mission, even though the target is non-ninja, because of the circumstances. Oh, and one last thing. You will need to be very secretive about what you are doing, so Lord Kitano's honor is not besmirched in the eyes of his subjects. Dismissed."

"Sounds fun," Naruto grumbled as he walked outside. "Let's get back to my house and get everything ready for Hinata."

--

Naruto no longer lived in the tiny apartment that he had called home during his childhood. After completing the mission against Orochimaru, and finishing several A class missions after that, he had saved enough money to buy his own place. It wasn't much, but it screamed birthday right now. He had spent the better part of the day preparing, and he had used Kage Bunshins to help. Satisfied that the decorations would please her, Naruto waited for the guests to arrive.

The party itself was the best Hinata had ever had. Her birthday up until now had consisted of a family affair. Stuffy Hyuuga clan nobles drinking tea and wishing the heir of the clan well, while secretly wishing for her to die during a mission so a more capable heir could step up. While that had happened this year, she had managed to sneak away fairly quickly to show up to Naruto's party.

Neji, Kiba, Shino, Lee, Naruto, and Kit were all there. Kit had told Naruto how people used to celebrate birthdays in the western style, and so there was cake and presents. She only regretted that she had to wait seventeen years for such a perfect birthday. After it was all over, and the guests had left, it was just Naruto, her, and of course, Kit.

"So what is this present you two have been working on?" she asked when she couldn't stand it any longer.

"Well, you know how you said you always wanted to be by my side?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah…" was Hinata's response.

"Well Kit and I came up with the next best thing. Here, lift up your shirt," he said reaching for her.

"Woah there!" she said, skirting away. She trusted him, but that had come out of nowhere.

"Not for that!" he said, blushing. "Just lift it up a little bit. Trust me." Slowly, she complied. "Now, channel some of your chakra to your naval area."

"Okay," she said, wondering what was going on. Naruto made some quick hand seals and slammed his palm into her stomach. There was a burning pain for a moment, and her ears were ringing. When her hearing returned, Naruto was frantic.

"Are you ok? Oh my god, it wasn't supposed to hurt that much!" he said.

"I'm ok, it's fine," she said. Looking down at the place where he had touched her, she saw a small tattoo shaped like a fox. "What is this all about?" she asked.

_Can you hear me?_ was Naruto's answer.

"Of course I can, why wouldn't I be able to?" she said. She looked up at his face.

_Pay closer attention, don't you notice anything strange?_ Naruto said with a smile. Except for the fact that his mouth didn't move.

Hinata was stunned. "H-how?"

"Kit figured it out first. We were trying to figure out how to communicate with each other while in a crowd or something. We started thinking that if we could send chakra along our link, why not something else. So we started doing some experiments with different seals, until we found one that worked," he said, lifting Kit off the ground. There was an identical seal on his stomach.

"Can I communicate back to you?" Hinata asked.

"Yes, just channel chakra to the tattoo and speak clearly in your mind. It should send it along the chakra link to me," Naruto said.

_Like this?_ Hinata's voice said in Naruto's mind.

_Exactly. It should work no matter how far apart we are,_ he said. _However, it does drain chakra. For me it isn't a big deal since I have so much, but if you were using your Byakagun while carrying on a conversation with me, you might start feeling a little drained._

"Naruto …" Hinata started. "Thank you. I couldn't have asked for a better gift." She leaned up and gave him a kiss. "I had better get back. My father is going to be angry with me for slipping out so quickly. He still doesn't approve of you."

"He won't ever approve of me. Some people don't change. When I am Hokage though, he will have to listen to me," Naruto said with a smile.

--

Hiashi was practicing his forms in the dojo, when his daughter returned from her party. He could have noticed any number of things about her that were different that usual. The way that she walked in with a happy bounce in her step and a smile on her face. The subtle way that she hummed to herself, so different from the daughter he had a few years ago. He could have noticed the grace with which she moved, poised for action at a subconscious level. However, he _did _notice the slight trail of red chakra that was firmly attached to her stomach.

If he had not been practicing with his Byakagun on, he would have missed it. If he had been of any other family line, he would have missed it. As fate would have it, he _did _have his Byakagun on, and he _was_ a Hyuuga. There was only one thing he knew of that had that kind of chakra. The demon boy, Naruto must have done something to his daughter. Undoubtedly, she had let him do it. She probably wanted him to.

This was the last straw.

Hiashi crossed the room and blocked her way. He practically spat out, "What has that demon done to you this time?"

Hinata looked up into her fathers eyes. "He is _not_ a demon, and he hasn't done anything to me," she said. Her answer was replied to with a stinging slap to the face.

"Do not lie to me girl! The whole clan can see your shame now!" her father said with barely contained rage. Lifting her shirt up slightly with his finger, he saw the fox tattoo. "You mark yourself with his symbol. I can no longer tolerate the shame you bring on this house by consorting with that boy." Hiashi shouted for some other clan members, who walked into the room.

Hinata was frantic when Hiashi ordered the two men to hold her. "With these two as my witness, I denounce you as heir to the Hyuuga clan. Hanabi will now be my heir, and you will be marked for the branch family," Hiashi said. Hinata gasped. That meant that the seal was going to be placed on her. With nothing but a gesture, any head family member could see her dead. "Carry her to the other room and prepare for the sealing."

--

_Naruto!_ Hinata's voice screamed in his head. Naruto bolted up from where he had been laying down, drawing Kit's attention. _Please help me! They are going to mark me!_ Naruto could feel the frantic and overwhelming fear in her mind-voice. Anger began to boil up inside him.

_I'm coming,_ Naruto sent back.

"Naruto, what's going on?" Kit asked.

"Hiashi is doing something terrible to Hinata. I am going to kill him," Naruto replied, his whiskers turning jagged and harsh.

"Not that I don't approve, but is that wise?" Kit asked. Naruto was already sprinting towards his window.

"Get Tsunade and Neji, bring them to the Hyuuga clan mansion," Naruto said, turning to face Kit. His eyes had turned completely red, and small fangs had sprouted from his mouth.

"Don't do anything rash. I would hate to see us executed," Kit yelled after him as he crashed through his window and disappeared into the night. Kit jumped out after him and headed toward the Hokage's residence. "He makes me so proud when he's angry."

--

Kitano Harashi was looking out the window of his room into the peaceful Konoha night, pondering the fate that awaited him on his return to Swan country. He had dishonored himself and his master by coming here to hire assassins. There was no other path for him to follow upon returning, other than seppuku. It would be his final slap in the face against the master that he dared not disobey. If he was lucky, then the people might see the events that would unfold, and know why he had done this terrible, final act. It was not the warrior's death he had hoped for, but it would do.

It was at about this time that his window was filled with the profile of a man he recognized from earlier that day. There were some differences of course. For one, the whiskers that he had assumed were tattoos had changed. Also, the eye color was different and the man was sporting some rather intimidating fangs. In another instant, he was gone, leaping forward into the night. Realizing that the man who would soon be traveling with him was obviously leaping through the rooftops with some terrible purpose, Kitano did what anyone would have done. He followed him.

--

Naruto landed with a dull thud in front of the Hyuuga mansion. The two guards standing at the entrance glanced at each other before getting the courage to stand in his way. They were no fools. They knew who he was and what power he had. Everyone in Konoha knew that he was the man who had felled Orochimaru. Everyone over the age of forty knew that he was the one who housed the most powerful demon known to man, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Still, somehow they found the courage to stand in his way.

"I am here for Hinata. Get out of my way! This is your only warning!" Naruto said, never breaking stride

"Respectfully sir, you can't go—," the man's objections were silenced when Naruto sent a blast of chakra into the man's stomach, sending him flying. The guard hit the wall with a thud and slid down to the ground, unconscious. The other guard launched himself into a desperate attack. It lasted about two seconds, Naruto didn't have time to spar with someone.

--

Hiashi heard the ruckus coming from the other end of the house, and knew that his clan was under attack. He had seen the chakra trail to Naruto flash when he had told Hinata that she would be marked for the branch family. Finally, Naruto had moved against his clan, and he had all the proof he needed to have him executed, or banished. Feeling no remorse, he started to make the hand seals required to perform the sealing. Hinata squirmed under the firm grip of the two elders that held her.

Luckily, Naruto chose that moment to throw another Hyuuga clan warrior through the door. Everyone in the room dropped what they were doing to lay eyes upon the crazed man in front of them. Naruto was covered in blood, presumably his own. There were several kunais and shurikens embedded in his body. Swirling around him was a powerful red chakra that Hinata had only seen without her Byakagun once before.

"Release her!" he said. His voice a powerful distortion of what it usually sounded like.

"How dare you attack my clan, and meddle in our business. Anyone could see that what stands before me now is a possessed demon. You should have been put down at birth like I suggested," Hiashi said. Naruto growled in response and stepped forward, but still did not attack.

"I warned you before, Hinata is under my protection!" Naruto said. "You knew this would happen."

"I thought the demon warned me? You are one and the same, and I have always known it," Hiasha spat back. "I may die fighting you, but I can only hope that Konoha has the sense to rise up against you now." He dropped into a fighting stance.

"Stop this nonsense at once!" Tsunade shouted stepping into the room. "Naruto, stand down!" Naruto visibly attempted to calm himself, but the power of his chakra still whipped clothes around like a strong wind. "Hinata is safe, now stand down." That seemed to have more of an effect. Slowly Naruto returned to normal.

Hinata ran from where she had been to Naruto, tears streaming from her face. "What have I done?" she whispered, pulling the weapons out of Naruto's body.

"Hokage, this man has attacked my clan without provocation. I demand that he be executed," Hiashi said.

"None of your clan members are dead, and the repairs to your mansion will come directly from Naruto's pay," the Hokage said. Turning to Naruto she said, "That was _very_ stupid."

"He was going to mark Hinata for the branch family. The heiress of the Hyuuga clan asked for my help, so it was not unprovoked," Naruto spat.

"She is no longer the heiress. Hanabi is. The workings of my clan are none of your business. My demand stands Hokage-sama, your favoritism is becoming blatant. His actions are slightly less offensive that Itachi's, and only because he was not as effective," Hiashi answered.

"If I had wanted to kill everyone in your clan, I would have! I was only here to protect Hinata from _your_ unprovoked attack," Naruto said. He looked like he was about to say something else, when Kitano Harashi walked around the corner.

"You must forgive me. My command of your language isn't complete," the samurai said.

"Kitano-san! What are you doing here?" Tsunade said.

"I saw the gentlemen there land on my window. Since he is leaving on a mission with me tomorrow, I thought I would follow to see what he was doing. I now have no doubts that he is the man for the job," Harashi said.

"Anyone in this village could do your mission," Tsunade said, for the millionth time.

"That may be, but Uzumaki-san has demonstrated to me something more priceless than the most talented ninja. If I understand the situation, he risked death by fighting through an entire clan because he sensed danger to his woman. He did what his honor demanded he do, with no concern for personal safety. He then refrained from using lethal force against opponents who wanted him dead. He is an honorable man," Kitano finished with a deep bow to Naruto.

"Hokage-sama," Hiashi started.

"Enough," Tsunade said, cutting him off. "Let me be clear with you Hyuuga Hiashi. I don't like you. I don't like the way you run your clan, and I don't like the way you treat your daughter. You don't want her to be your heir, fine, but I will not allow you to have the power to end her life with a hand gesture. Now, Naruto and his team are going on an extended mission tomorrow morning. When they return, Naruto will be punished for what he has done. Hinata will be living with me, until further arrangements can be made. Touch her, and I will bring your whole clan down, do you understand?" she said.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"You two!" she said, pointing to Naruto and Hinata. "My office. Now!" The two walked out of the room. "Kitano, please return to your room. Your mission will leave as scheduled tomorrow morning. I apologize for you having to see this."

"It was my pleasure, Hokage-sama," Kitano said.

--

Neji stood outside the Hyuuga clan mansion next to Kit. He was shocked. He only knew of a few people who would be capable of just walking into the Hyuuga clan mansion when they felt like it. He could think of only one who might have a reason to be there, and a pet fox.

Naruto stumbled out of the building along with Hinata. Kit ran up to him and seemed to look over his wounds, nod, and then start trailing along behind him.

"What happened?" Neji asked.

"I am no longer the heir of the Hyuuga clan. They were going to mark me for the branch family," Hinata said. "Naruto came to stop them, and now we are in trouble."

Neji nodded, "I assumed it was something like that. That bastard Hiashi. His hatred of Naruto is clouding his judgement. Everyone in Konoha has seen your improvement since you have been with Naruto, and I don't know of anyone that doesn't approve of your being together other than him. What brought it on?"

"Use your Byakagun," Hinata said. "You will see."

Neji complied, seeing the trail of distinctive chakra run from Naruto's naval to hers. "What is that?"

"A new seal me and … well a new seal I came up with anyway. It allows us to communicate silently," Naruto said.

_I love how you take credit for everything I do,_ Kit said in Naruto's mind.

_Well most people don't know my pet is actually you, so I can't go saying you did it now can I?_ Naruto replied.

"You are connected to the fox as well?" Neji asked.

_Shit, I forgot he can see chakra,_ Naruto thought to himself. "Yeah," Naruto said.

Neji was silent for a moment before responding. "I understand. If the Hyuuga clan sees this, then they may suspect that your fox is more than he is. You should be careful."

"I will. Now that they all hate me for tearing up their house, I'm sure they will have it in for me," Naruto said. Hinata wiped a tear from her face.

"This is all my fault. I should have just let them do it, and then we wouldn't have this problem," she said. Naruto and Neji responded as one.

"No!" Neji continued to explain, "If Hiashia had marked you for the branch family, then he would have an absolute hold over Naruto. With a hand gesture he could take your life, and so Naruto would be forced to do whatever Hiashi wanted. It's the same reason I couldn't come in to help Naruto. They would have killed me instantly for rebelling against the head family."

"We are leaving on a long mission tomorrow morning," Naruto said as they neared the Hokage's office. "Do us a favor and keep your eye on Hiashi. I have a feeling he will have something waiting for me when I return. If he spins tonights events right, with me not here to defend myself, I could be coming home to another lynch mob."

"Lets hope not," Neji said. "I will do my best to make sure that doesn't happen." Naruto and Hinata said goodbye as Neji leaped off into the night, to do whatever it was that the ANBU commander did at night.

Naruto gave a light knock at the Hokage's office door. In moments, Shizune opened the door. "Come on in. Let's get you cleaned up before the Hokage gets back."

--

**Authors Note**: Well here we have the beginning of the sequel to Time Apart. I hope you all will enjoy this story as much as the last one I wrote. Please remember to leave a review to let me know what you think. Additionally, feel free to read my one shot Warhammer fiction that has 0 reviews 

Again this fic will be edited by my lovely wife, so props to her for the (hopefully) very few grammar mistakes.


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